Russia and Ukraine will hold talks on the latter's bid for NATO membership, which Moscow opposes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Tuesday.
"We have agreed about the consultations, at which experts will state in detail Russia's concerns ... so that they are taken into consideration by the Ukrainian side," Lavrov said after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Ohryzko.
Ohryzko said Ukraine will make its final decision after a referendum on joining NATO and such a move will not pose a threat to Russia.
"We shall not build our security at the expense of the security of another state, but we have to think about our own security too... Ukraine will develop relations with NATO without upsetting strategic interaction with Russia," the Ukrainian foreign minister said.
Russia is worried at the eastward expansion of the U.S.-led military alliance, especially its support for Ukraine and Georgia's membership bids.
A senior Russian military officer threatened last week to take military action if Ukraine and Georgia joined the alliance.
"Russia will take action for protecting its interests close to its borders, and the measures it is going to take will be not only of a military character," said General Yury Baluyevsky, Russia's armed forces chief.
NATO rejected the two nations' applications for membership at its three-day summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest earlier this month. Its leaders, however, promised that the two countries will ultimately join the alliance.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article