SEVASTOPOL, July 5 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on Sunday that Ukraine will not host foreign military bases, and its territory will not be used against Russia, when the country joins NATO.
"Ukraine guarantees that there will be no foreign soldiers of any bloc or any country. This is implied by the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukraine's Law on the Fundamentals of Security," Yushchenko said.
Ukraine has been pursuing NATO membership since pro-Western Yushchenko was inaugurated in January 2005.
Ukraine's NATO membership, however, needs approval at a nation-wide referendum on the issue. Meanwhile, regular opinion polls show that the majority of Ukrainians continue to oppose joining the alliance.
NATO has enlarged since 1999, admitting three ex-Soviet Baltic republics and four Communist-bloc states in Eastern Europe. The expansion has strained relations between the West and Russia, which is concerned by the new military bases emerging along its borders.
Last December, European NATO members led by Germany blocked U.S.-backed bids by Ukraine and Georgia to join programs leading to membership in the military alliance, but the ex-Soviet states were told they would eventually be allowed to join.
Yushchenko also said that the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in Sevastopol in Ukraine's Crimea must leave the base in 2017 when a bilateral treaty expires.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in Ukraine's Crimea, including the main base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 agreement, under which Ukraine agreed to lease the bases to Russia until 2017.
Yushchenko announced last summer that Ukraine would not extend the lease of the Sevastopol base beyond 2017, and urged the Russian fleet to start preparations for a withdrawal.
