JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s New Defense Minister Reveals Priorities in First Major Speech” – Newsweek/ David Brennan
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“Ukraine’s new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, has called on foreign allies to provide ‘heavy weaponry, heavy weaponry and, again, heavy weaponry’ …. On Friday, Umerov told the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv that Ukraine is ‘grateful’ for … Western support … but warned that Kyiv’s forces will need more to overcome … ‘big challenges’ … driving Russian troops out of the country. Umerov was chosen by … Zelensky to replace … outgoing defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, whose 22 months in the post was tarnished by a series of corruption scandals …. ‘Our main goal is NATO membership,’ the new minister added. …”
Rustem Umerov also spoke to potential reforms, such as expanded digitization, a potential military ombudsman, and expansion of Ukrainian defense capabilities across different branches of the military.