On May 17, the Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Serhii Deineko, met with the delegation of the US State Department and the US Embassy in Ukraine.

Foreign colleagues, in particular, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verda, Jose Fernandez, Todd Robinson, Jessica Lewis, and US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the activities of the border agency.

Serhii Deineko thanked the representatives of the US State Department for the help provided to the border guards in strengthening their potential during the repulse of russia's armed aggression. And also for the decision of the US Government to increase the support of the State Border Service in the performance of tasks related to the protection and defense of the borders of Ukraine.

The delegates were shown the tools that the border guards received as part of joint international technical assistance projects with the Department of Law Enforcement of the US Embassy in Ukraine and under the EXBS program. In particular, equipment, medical equipment, means of communication and surveillance, machines, as well as unmanned aircraft.

Also, during the meeting with partners, the state and prospects of further cooperation were discussed in detail, including the possibility of starting new joint projects.

As Serhii Deineko noted, all joint projects without exception were successful.

"The projects we started were very necessary and all of them were successfully implemented. It is noted directly by the US Embassy and it is noted by the border agency," he said.

The head of the SBGSU noted that the priority needs of the border guard agency is providing border guard units with armored vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, cargo and special vehicles, UAVs and their components, autonomous surveillance systems, mobile modules for field conditions, etc. After all, as Serhii Deineko emphasized, threats to border security will remain in the sections of the state border with russia and belarus next years. These include shelling of Ukrainian border areas, activities of sabotage groups, mined areas, armed and other provocations.

"Ukrainians are fighting not only for their cities and their country, but also for the values and key democratic principles that russia is trying to trample on. The State Border Guard Service, thanks to the support of the US Embassy, managed to reorganize quickly our needs and direct them to the most urgent ones during the full-scale invasion of the aggressor country," emphasized Serhii Deineko.

He assured the American side of the consistency of the border guard agency of Ukraine in fulfilling its obligations within the framework of the state course on Euro-Atlantic integration.

For their part, the American partners assured of further support and interest in working for the long term and working towards the desired vision of cooperation between the US Government and the border guard agency of Ukraine.

It is worth noting that since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the russian federation within the framework of the implementation of joint projects with the US State Department, assistance in the total amount of about 68 million US dollars has been received. Also, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the budgets of international technical assistance projects jointly with INL and EXBS have been increased.