WASHINGTON, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - NATO will not interfere in Ukraine’s decision whether to change its policy of non-alliance, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a Friday press conference.
“We fully respect if the Ukrainian Parliament decides to change that policy [of non-alliance] because we adhere to the principle that each and every nation has a right to decide itself without interference from outside and we hope that other nations adhere to same principle,” Rasmussen said.
“This is a fundamental principle that each and every nation has an inherent right to decide itself on security policies and its alliance affiliations,” NATO's secretary general underlined.
“At the Wales Summit next week, we will meet President [of Ukraine Petro] Poroshenko to make clear NATO’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” Rasmussen added.
The NATO's chief also said that next week the alliance will also “take decisions as to how we will enhance our cooperation with Ukraine” including providing financial assistance for logistics, command and control, cyber defense and aid to military personnel.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk introduced legislation to the country’s parliament to drop its “non-aligned bloc” status and renew its path to becoming a member of NATO. The call comes only days after the first face to face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Belarus to discuss possible solutions to the violence and unrest in east Ukraine.
