KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated earlier in the day that Ukraine does not yet plan to apply for the NATO membership and will instead focus on security and defense reforms to comply with the alliance's standards.
"The Minsk agreements must be fully implemented and the OSCE monitors be granted full, safe and unhindered access to the whole of Ukraine," Stoltenberg said opening the NATO-Ukraine Commission.
The secretary-general stressed that the Alliance was firmly committed to Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that its member states would never agree with the reunification of Crimea with Russia.
At the 27th NATO summit in Warsaw on July 8, the Alliance approved a Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine. The NATO-Ukraine Commission said that the CAP contained 40 areas of reforms, mainly in Ukraine's defense, military and security structures.
In February 2015, the warring parties to the Ukrainian conflict in Donbass signed the Minsk peace accords in order to cease fire in the crisis-torn region. Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine, as the members of the Normandy Four, helped negotiate the Donbas ceasefire. The truce, however, has been repeatedly breached, with Kiev forces and Donbas militia accusing each other of violating it.
