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Poland says Ukraine’s accession to NATO, EU not on agenda

Nevertheless, the country should have prospects for membership
President of Poland Andrzej Duda AP Photo/Liis Treimann
President of Poland Andrzej Duda
© AP Photo/Liis Treimann

BERLIN, August 26. /TASS/. Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the European Union is not on the agenda now, but the country should have prospects for the membership there, Poland’s new leader Andrzej Duda has said in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper.

"In general, yes, we should integrate Ukraine, even if now this is absolutely not on the agenda. First, we need long-term peace [in Donbas] and secure environment," the Polish president said.

However, this can happen in Ukraine only if the country gets political and economic prospects for development and starts complying with the conditions for the membership in NATO and the EU, he said.

The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, said in interview with TASS in June that Russia will provide an adequate response if a decision is taken on Ukraine’s joining NATO.

In this case, the North Atlantic Alliance will then come to Russia’s doorstep and this "will weigh upon the conscience of those who in February 2014 triggered the coup that overthrew the legal government of President Viktor Yanukovych," he added.

"Russia will respond to such actions as yet another step towards worsening relations, and we will not leave it unanswered," Naryshkin said, adding: "At least we have no intention of joining NATO."