Ukraine's president signed a bill on Dec. 29 dropping his nation's nonaligned status but signaled that he will hold a referendum before seeking NATO membership. Using a news conference to sign the legislation, which parliament had adopted last week, Petro Poroshenko vowed to reform Ukraine's economy and military forces to meet European Union and NATO standards.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Associated Press: Ukraine drops its nonaligned status
A Ukrainian soldiers fires a missile with a man-portable air-defense system during exercices near the city of Shchastya, north of Luhansk, on Dec. 1, 2014.
