Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Kyiv, saying he hoped this visit and talks would help to intensify practical cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, the presidential press service reported.
"I am grateful that you have come. I really appreciate our relationship – both personal and certainly the level of relations – understanding and mutual respect that exists between Ukraine and NATO," the president said.
The secretary general thanked his hosts for the warm welcome he had received in Ukraine and wished the head of state success in his reform efforts. He said political developments in Ukraine haven’t affected cooperation between Kyiv and NATO.
"Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO has not been affected by domestic issues," Rasmussen said after a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko.
He added that the partnership with NATO involves further dialogue on the issues related to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, all principles supported by the alliance.
NATO urges all its partners to stick to these principles, Rasmussen said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and met with Rasmussen and talked for about an hour behind closed doors in parliament on Thursday.
The meeting was also attended by Leader of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction Ivan Kyrylenko, non-aligned parliamentarian Taras Chornovil, Deputy Head of the Party of Regions faction Valeriy Konovaliuk and Deputy Head of the People’s Party faction Oleh Zarubynsky.
Some 100 representatives of the Communists Party picketed the meeting. They stood in front of the Verkhovna Rada holding the Communist Party flags and placards with the inscriptions "Rasmussen, go home!" and "NATO – stop!"
The head of the parliamentary committee for national security and defense Anatoliy Hrytsenko of the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense faction told reporters that Rasmussen had noticed the rally and "took it with a smile."
A meeting of foreign ministers of Ukraine and NATO will take place in Berlin in April.
