Ukraine army to be able to act under NATO standards in 2020.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian army will be able to act fully in accordance with NATO standards as early as in 2020. "In 2020, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be structured and will be able to act in full accordance with NATO standards, as is stipulated in the [Ukrainian] law on national security," Poroshenko said at a meeting with residents of the town of Zdolbuniv in Rivne region on January 10, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Ukrainian President Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian army will be able to act fully in accordance with NATO standards in 2020 (Picture source: Kyiv Post)

"Our army is capable of deterring the enemy, which is considerably stronger, and this is not the limit of our capabilities. The army has been increasing its strength, an amount exceeding 5% of GDP is being allocated from the budget for defense and security," President Petro Poroshenko said.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are composed of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Ukrainian Navy, the Ukrainian Air Force, and the Ukrainian Airmobile Forces. Ukraine's naval forces maintain their own small Ukrainian Naval Infantry force as well as their own Ukrainian Naval Aviation force. The Ukrainian Sea Guard is the coast guard service of Ukraine, however it is part of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and is not subordinate to the Navy. As a result of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine from 2014, the president commissioned governors of oblasts of Ukraine to create volunteer units under the government program "Territorial Defense". Initially these units received minimal funding coming from regional budgets and mostly relied on donations. In November 2014 most of the territorial battalions were integrated into Ukraine's Ground forces. The National Guard of Ukraine serves as the main reserve component of Armed Forces of Ukraine.