; (11) support robust security assistance for Ukraine, including defensive lethal assistance, while promoting necessary defense institutional reforms; (12) support robust security assistance for Georgia, including defensive lethal assistance, to strengthen the defense capabilities and readiness of Georgia, and improve interoperability with NATO forces; (13) promote enhanced military-to-military engagement between the United States and the militaries of the countries of the Western Balkans to promote interoperability with NATO, civilian control of the military, procurement reforms, and regional security cooperation; (14) develop and implement a comprehensive security cooperation strategy that rationalizes and prioritizes support for allies and partners in Europe, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia; (15) consider the merit and feasibility of a defense lending initiative to support allies and partners in Europe, especially allies and partners that are most vulnerable to Russian aggression, to supplement and fill gaps in existing United States security assistance and arms sales mechanisms; and (16) in NATO or through other multilateral formats— (A) promote reforms to accelerate the speed of decision and deployability within NATO, including delegation to the Secretary General and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of the authority to deploy the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force to any location within the territory of NATO allies in response to a security crisis; (B) promote a more robust NATO defense planning process that— (i) defines clear, stable chains-of-command responsible for the execution of graduated response plans; (ii) generates realistic military requirements; and (iii) provides a basis for assigning allies specific responsibilities as force providers in contingency plans