BRUSSELS, October 11. /TASS/. NATO member countries will bolster their military support for Ukraine, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

"We will step up and sustain our support for Ukraine, so that they can continue to defend themselves, and liberate territory," he said at a news conference ahead of the meetings of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on October 12-13.

Stoltenberg also said the alliance welcomes announcements by allies to provide advanced air defense systems to Ukraine.

The NATO secretary general also said Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov will join the NATO ministerial meeting and the meeting of the contact group for Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky by phone on Monday that Washington planned to continue to provide security assistance to Kiev, including advanced air defense systems. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said these statements reaffirm Washington’s status of a party to the conflict.