You're reading: NATO secretary general hopes Ukraine will sooner or later sign agreement with EU

Tbilisi - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he hopes that sooner or later Ukraine will sign its association agreement with the EU. 

“The signing of this agreement is, first and foremost, in the interests of Ukraine, as it contributes to deepening its relations with both the European Union and NATO,” Rasmussen said in Brussels on Monday in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

“To tell the truth, I was slightly surprised with the decision taken by Kyiv, but I respect the choice of Ukraine and the way through which it wants to build its relations with the EU and NATO,” Rasmussen said.

He said that the EU and NATO do not intervene in the internal affairs of individual states and they are committed to the principles of an individual choice by states on accession to a particular union.

“Our open door policy means that countries that wish to become members EU or NATO members should meet our criteria,” Rasmussen said.

Asked whether next year Russia may increase pressure on Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, the countries wishing to sign association agreements with the European Union, and that the decision by the Ukrainian leadership to suspend the signing of the pact was due to pressure from Russia, Rasmussen said that if Russia exerts such pressure, it would violate the agreements it signed.

“I do not have detailed information about the dialog between Kyiv and Moscow, and it’s not so important,” he said.

“We hope that Russia will be committed to the principle that every state has the right to make its own choice. We can offer such states the deepening of cooperation, including in terms of security,” he said.