Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich said on Thursday that Ukraine would not for the time being make a bid to join NATO.

He was speaking after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"We separated NATO membership from the issue of normal mutually beneficial cooperation with the alliance, which is a key guideline for the government's work in relations with the alliance," Yanukovych said.

"The issue of Ukraine's joining NATO will be resolved by a nationwide referendum, and time will tell when the need to hold it arises."

The pro-Russian prime minister said opinion polls indicate two- thirds of Ukrainians oppose NATO membership. However, he said that Ukraine hoped to improve its co-operation with NATO and strengthen links with the European Union.

Yanukovich, who lost out to pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine's 2004 "Orange Revolution," is back on the political stage after his party's victory in parliamentary elections.

After months of political stalemate after the poll, President Yushchenko finally named his arch-rival Ukraine's prime minister on the condition he implements pro-Western policies.

Russia fiercely opposed the previous pro-Western Ukrainian government's intention to join NATO's Membership Action Plan.

In this respect, Yanukovych said it was in Ukraine's interests to maintain strategic relations with Russia. "This completely suits Ukraine's strategic interests," he said.

Source: Xinhua