allies and partners from the balkans to the caucuses. strengthening you canes trickle ukraine's capacity to defend itself against russian aggression is central to the team's mission. the united states and the allies provide ukraine with security assistance because it's in our national security interests to deter russian aggression around the world. we also provide security assistance so that ukraine can negotiate a peace with russia from a position of strength. the human toll continues to climb in this ongoing war, with 14,000 ukrainian lives lost since russia's 2014 invasion. these sacrifices are continually in my mind as i lead dod efforts to provide vital training and equipment, including defensive legal assistance to the ukrainian armed forces. i have also supported a robust ukrainian ministry of defense program of defense reform to