"The sides discussed Ukrainian-American bilateral relations, touched upon the issue of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. Condoleezza Rice gave her support for Ukraine's course aimed at integration into Euro-Atlantic structures," the Ukrainian president's press service said after the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
On Friday, January 18, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko handed a request for Kiev to join NATO's Membership Action Plan to the alliance's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday Ukrainian Euro-Atlantic integration is not an alternative to relations with Russia.
"We do not share Russia's fears that NATO expansion could entail serious military-political shifts that would inevitably affect the Russian Federation's interests. Instead, Ukraine regards the process as an expansion of a zone of security and stability in Europe to the south and east," the ministry said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the country would have to take "appropriate measures" if Ukraine were to join NATO.
"Ukraine's possible integration into NATO will exacerbate Russian-Ukrainian relations in many areas. We will have to take appropriate measures in response," the ministry said.
However, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was quoted by the government's press service as saying Saturday that the decision on whether to join NATO would "be taken exclusively by the Ukrainian people through a nationwide referendum."
The majority of Ukrainians have so far opposed the idea of joining the alliance.
Yushchenko and Rice also discussed Ukraine's admission to the global trade body, the World Trade Organization. "The Ukrainian side highly values continued U.S. backing on this issue," Yushchenko said.
Rice assessed the political processes in Ukraine positively and expressed the hope that the country would continue following a democratic path.
