Ukraine should not insist on immediately being granted NATO membership but should focus on reforming the country so that it complies the alliance's criteria, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Politics and Communications Department Director Oleksiy Makeyev said.

"This is a very important element of our strategy: not to demand membership here and now but prepare for it, including by reforming our country so that it complies with NATO standards," Makeyev said at a Ukraine-NATO conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"Taking into consideration that Ukrainian citizens support membership – and we saw significant growth in support throughout last year – we believe there is every reason to conduct reforms and ultimately increase this support [for NATO membership] even more," he said.

Makeyev said he was sure that Ukraine's possible membership would strengthen NATO. "We won't be a burden for Euro-Atlantic security; on the contrary, we will be an asset and an achievement," he said.