WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree to approve the country’s new national security strategy, which mentions Kiev’s plans to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
"We will assess an application from Ukraine exactly the same way as we would assess any other application from any other country."
He added that every country has the right to decide its own policies.
"It's up to this nation and 28 allies to decide if NATO's going to enlarge and have a new member. Ukraine has announced that they will implement a reform program and then aim at applying for membership."
In November 2014, President Poroshenko said that Ukraine should hold a referendum by 2020 to decide on joining the North Atlantic Alliance.
In December 2014, the Ukrainian parliament voted to scrap the country’s non-aligned status allowing the country to seek NATO membership. The bill was signed into law by President Poroshenko later that month.
