KIEV, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's first deputy parliament speaker Oleksandr Kornienko said assistance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities, the Ukrainian parliament's newspaper Golos Ukrainy reported on Wednesday.
"We are grateful to those partner countries that already support Ukraine, the Alliance in general - for systematic assistance in the development of our army, which will strengthen the defense capabilities of our country," Kornienko said at a briefing following a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council.
Kornienko invited foreign parliament members to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly slated for May this year in Kiev.
A meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council was held in Brussels on Jan. 24-25.
Last week, the United States sent two batches of military assistance to Ukraine as part of a military package worth 200 million U.S. dollars. Another batch of U.S. defensive aid arrived in Kiev on Tuesday.
Last week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received anti-tank defensive weapons from Britain, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania pledged military support for Ukraine. ■