It would be premature to bring up the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO at the present time, as the country needs first to carry out a number of reforms, Ukrainian deputy presidential chief of staff Valery Chaly said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"The laws do not contain a clear imperative that a bid to join NATO should be submitted as early as tomorrow. The matter concerns more fundamental things, like reforms," Chaly said.

Priority among these reforms should be given to the defense sector, in which the NATO countries have the highest standards, Chaly said. "And the objective of complying with these criteria is the principal one, which needs to be achieved," he said.

Ukraine's accession to NATO is "not an issue of tomorrow," he said.

"We should conduct reforms, we should achieve these criteria, and then there will be a political decision on accession. At the present time, such a decision can be made only based on a referendum, since there is a relevant parliamentary resolution," he said.

Security is a matter of responsibility for Ukrainian policymakers, including the parliament, the government, and the president, but if this issue remains sensitive by the time Ukraine meets NATO standards, "it will be necessary to have a clear position of the Ukrainian people," Chaly said.