The United States and Ukraine held their third cyber dialogue in Kyiv on March 3, 2020. This dialogue reaffirms our shared commitment to ensure an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure cyberspace in which all states behave responsibly.

Representatives of the United States and Ukraine discussed recent national cybersecurity policy developments, 5G security concerns, cyber capacity building, and international cyber policy issues, including engagements in multilateral fora and policies around public attribution. The delegations reviewed ongoing and proposed U.S. cybersecurity assistance projects developed in concert with relevant Ukrainian agencies and stakeholders, including strengthening critical infrastructure cybersecurity; cyber strategy development and implementation; enhancing cyber defense, incident response, and information sharing capabilities; raising cybersecurity awareness for all stakeholders; and providing training on securing industrial control systems and digital forensics. These projects complement U.S.-Ukraine cooperation on other cybersecurity matters.

As a demonstration of its continued commitment to supporting cybersecurity, the United States announced an additional $8 million from the Department of State in cybersecurity assistance on top of the $10 million pledged in 2017. Part of this funding will support the U.S. Agency for International Development’s new cybersecurity project, which plans to invest up to $38 million over four years, to build Ukraine’s cybersecurity capabilities through support for legal and regulatory reform, cyber workforce development, and private sector engagement. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation presented the National Police of Ukraine Cyber Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine with a Director’s Certificate for their unrelenting efforts in conjunction with the FBI to arrest and extradite cybercriminals who operated freely in Ukraine for many years.

The Department of State led the U.S. delegation, headed by Joseph Pennington, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, which included U.S. representatives from the Departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and Treasury, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ruslan Nimchynskyi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for International Security, led Ukraine’s interagency delegation, which included representatives from the Ministries of Defense and Digital Transformation, the Information Security and Cyber Security Service, the Security Service of Ukraine, Foreign Intelligence Service, State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection, Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine, State Financial Monitoring Service, National Bank of Ukraine, and National Institute of Strategic Studies.