Russia can't veto Ukraine joining NATO – NATO Secretary General

13:13, 31.03.2015 1 min read

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that every sovereign state has the right to choose to join NATO.

It's evident that being a free and sovereign country, you have a right to decide to be a part of NATO or not, he said when answering the questions of MEPs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.

Stoltenberg said that if a country wants to become a NATO member, the issue would involve only the applicant country and the 28 NATO member states.

Russia cannot veto a state joining NATO, he said.

He also said that Kyiv had announced the beginning of reforms related to a future application for NATO membership, and that the reforms will need time to work.