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Ukraine angers Russia with landmark step towards Nato Ukraine angers Russia with landmark step towards Nato
(35 minutes later)
The Ukrainian parliament has renounced the country’s “non-aligned” status with the aim of eventually joining Nato, angering Moscow, which views Nato’s eastward expansion as a security threat. The Ukrainian parliament has renounced the country’s “non-aligned” status with the aim of eventually joining Nato, angering Moscow, which views the western alliance’s eastward expansion as a security threat.
Any accession to the western military alliance is likely to take years, but a Nato spokesman in Brussels said: “Our door is open and Ukraine will become a member of Nato if it so requests and fulfils the standards and adheres to the necessary principles.” Kiev first announced its intention of seeking the protection of Nato membership in August, following what it deemed the open participation of Russia’s military in a separatist war in Ukraine’s eastern provinces.
Russia described the vote as “an unfriendly step”. “This political vector will only add to nuisances and acuteness in ties,” said Andrei Kelin, Russia’s envoy to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, called Ukraine’s renunciation of its neutral military and political status a “counterproductive” step that would only boost tensions around the crisis in the east.
Addressing deputies in Kiev before the vote, the Ukrainian foreign minister said scrapping Ukraine’s neutral status underscored its determination to pivot towards Europe and the west. “This will lead to integration in the European and the Euro-Atlantic space,” Pavlo Klimkin said. “It will only escalate the confrontation and creates the illusion that it is possible to resolve Ukraine’s deep internal crisis by passing such laws,” TASS news agency quoted him as saying.
Addressing deputies in Kiev before the vote, the Ukrainian foreign minister said the move underscored the country’s determination to pivot towards Europe and the west. “This will lead to integration in the European and the Euro-Atlantic space,” Pavlo Klimkin said.
The amendment passed easily, receiving 303 votes – 77 more than the minimum required to pass into law.The amendment passed easily, receiving 303 votes – 77 more than the minimum required to pass into law.
Ties between Moscow and Kiev are at an all-time low since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March and a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Any accession to the western military alliance is likely to take years, but a Nato spokesman in Brussels said: “Our door is open and Ukraine will become a member of Nato if it so requests and fulfils the standards and adheres to the necessary principles.”
Pro-western authorities in Kiev accuse Russia of orchestrating and arming the uprising in the east after the overthrow of a Ukrainian president sympathetic to Moscow. The Kremlin denies it is behind the revolt. Ties between Moscow and Kiev are at an all-time low since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March and the subsequent outbreak of the pro-Russian rebellion in the east.
Pro-western authorities in Kiev accuse Russia of orchestrating and arming the uprising after the overthrow of a Ukrainian president sympathetic to Moscow. The Kremlin denies it is behind the revolt.