Defense Minister of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and his Turkish counterpart Yaşar Güler met in Ankara to address a range of bilateral defense cooperation issues and security in the Black Sea region.

"A long and productive meeting. We discussed a number of issues regarding bilateral defense cooperation. We have specific agreements and outcomes. A separate topic of discussion is security in the Black Sea region," Umerov said on Facebook on Friday.

He recalled that last month, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree that puts into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine regarding the new Maritime Security Strategy of Ukraine.

"Developing the capabilities of the Navy, ensuring security in Ukrainian maritime space and throughout the Black Sea region – one of our priorities. I am grateful to Yaşar Güler for supporting the project to build corvettes for Ukraine: "Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi" and "Hetman Ivan Mazepa," the minister said.

He also stressed that the new corvettes will significantly strengthen our fleet and our ability to protect our maritime borders in the future.