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Ukrainian President Signs Bill to Cancel Non-Bloc Status

Sputnik News

16:00 29.12.2014(updated 19:41 29.12.2014)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a bill cancelling the country's non-aligned status, stating his certainty that the country will decide to join NATO in the next five or six years.

MOSCOW, December 29 (Sputnik) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law the bill to cancel the non-bloc status of Ukraine during a televised press conference Monday.

"Right now, during this press conference, I plan to sign the bill cancelling Ukraine's policy of non-alignment," he told reporters.

The Ukrainian leader signed the document following the television broadcast. He also said his predecessor's decision to pass a law making Ukraine a neutral country was a strategic mistake.

Poroshenko also said that Ukraine will decide in the next five or six years to join NATO.

"In the next five to six years the people of Ukraine will decide on NATO membership," Poroshenko added.

Ukraine's non-aligned status was established in a 2010 law, signed by then-president Viktor Yanukovych, declaring that Ukraine would not seek membership in any military or political alliance.

However, the new Kiev government renewed the drive toward NATO membership in the wake of an armed conflict in the country's southeast, a conflict they blame on a military intervention by Russia.

In August, the Ukrainian government said the non-aligned status did not guarantee the country's security, and reaffirmed its plans to join the 28-member military bloc.

On December 23, the Ukrainian parliament voted to scrap the non-aligned status of the country and to work toward NATO membership. 'In the next five to six years the people of Ukraine will decide on NATO membership,' the Ukrainian president said.

A decision will be made at a nationwide referendum, but not until Ukraine has met the strict NATO requirements, said Poroshenko in an earlier statement.

Ukraine's NATO bid has prompted a mixed reaction from the alliance. A majority of NATO members state that the country is not ready to join the bloc, and urge Kiev to implement a wide range of reforms before seriously considering NATO membership.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has repeatedly warned Kiev that a neutral status was in the best interests of the Ukrainian people, their neighbors and Europe.

© Sputnik