NATO orientation key to Ukraine's military reform - Poroshenko

10:08, 05.12.2015 1 min read

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said that NATO is Kyiv's main partner in providing national security.

"Let me remind you that our new military doctrine sets the task of ensuring before 2020 full compatibility of the Ukrainian armed forces with the relevant forces of NATO countries. This is necessary because we are planning to obtain a membership prospect after achieving membership criteria. Likewise, we expect our partners to demonstrate their willingness to admit Ukraine," Poroshenko said before a military award ceremony on the occasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Day on Friday.

Orientation toward the alliance is key to Ukraine's military reform, the president said.

"Unfortunately, at the end of the previous decade Ukraine failed to leap through NATO's open doors, and in the current situation the alliance is not an official ally of Ukraine, de jure. But de facto, it is our main partner in providing national security," Poroshenko said.