UKRAINE RESERVES NATO OPTION.

Ukraine’s current non-bloc status, enshrined in its constitution, "does not foreclose Ukraine’s option to enter into new or already existing alliance systems," First Deputy Foreign Minister Anatoly Buteiko told a Kyiv briefing yesterday. "Integration in European and Euroatlantic structures is one of Ukraine’s fundamental tasks. Ukraine’s accession to NATO does not arise as a practical matter today, this is a matter for the future," Buteiko said in the latest hint on Kyiv’s long-term security planning. (Ukrainian agencies, June 24)

Turkmen-Russian Gas Company Doomed by Ukraine’s Insolvency.