Ukraine’s entering NATO is not an issue to be decided in one day, Interfax Ukraine quotes President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma as saying in his interview with Czech newspaper Hospodarske noviny. “Today nine countries are waiting for membership in the alliance; some of them applied ten years ago. The NATO summit in Prague will be crucial for this issue. Some countries will be granted membership, but not all. Only those which are prepared for this,” said Mr. Kuchma when asked when Ukraine intends to become a member of the North Atlantic alliance.
“We have also set ourselves the task of preparing to join. We have been following this path for the last ten years. This was registered in the Charter on Special Partnership Ukraine and NATO signed. Today we are pursuing military reform. We will continue with this work,” Mr. Kuchma noted, adding that Ukraine would like its efforts to find a “clear support” with NATO member countries, including the Czech Republic.
“We are approaching a professional army. For instance, the “regiments taking part in the UN peacekeeping operations are already professionals,” Ukraine’s president said, adding that in this connection he believes that in fact time required for our country’s entering NATO is “much shorter,” especially if Ukraine and the alliance meet each other halfway.
Answering the question whether Ukraine’s application for NATO membership was a reaction to NATO and Russia’s rapprochement, Mr. Kuchma said that, according to his information, Russia does not plan to join NATO. “Today Russia is proving that it isn’t a threat to the whole world, as the former USSR was. Russia doesn’t create problems, quite the contrary, it strives for economic cooperation, primarily with Europe,” Mr. Kuchma stressed.
In his view, the attitude of the Russian politicians toward Ukraine has also undergone changes. “President Putin and other Russian politicians admit that Ukraine has a right to chose its own way... Today we and Russia are equal partners, as well as the EU states,” he said.
