The Ukrainian leadership's decision on the political course of the country is its sovereign right, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Policy and Planning Jiri Sedivy has said.
"The new government took a decision on Ukraine’s political course not to join [NATO]. It is up to Ukraine and the Ukrainian leadership to decide when, or I would say so – whether to change this position in future or not. This is a sovereign decision of your leadership," he told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Sedivy said that his Ukrainian colleagues had assured him that Ukraine was interested in a further improvement of the quality of Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO. He noted that one of the concrete steps of such cooperation was joint exercises, as was confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada after it adopted a law allowing foreign troops into Ukraine to conduct joint training.
