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Yatsenyuk: Ukraine not considering joining NATO

“This is not on our radars,” Yatsenyuk told journalists

Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (L) and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (R) EPA/JULIEN WARNAND

Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (L) and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (R)

© EPA/JULIEN WARNAND

BRUSSELS, March 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Parliament-appointed Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said after meeting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday that Ukraine’s entry into NATO was not part of the agenda for Ukraine’s interim government.

“This is not on our radars,” Yatsenyuk told journalists when asked whether the current Ukrainian authorities considered the possibility for Ukraine to join NATO.

However, Yatsenyuk has invited members of NATO Council at the level of ambassadors to hold a meeting in Kiev.

He said he thought cooperation between tumult-stricken Ukraine and NATO was to be expanded and it would be good for Ukraine to get technical assistance from the bloc for improving its defense capabilities and maintaining stability in the region.

Rasmussen, in his turn, hailed the restraint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the face of a strong pressure, saying that self-possession was a good way to scaling down the tensions.

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