UKRAINE DOESN’T RULE OUT APPLYING TO JOIN NATO.

Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Anton Buteyko stated at a Kiev briefing yesterday that Ukraine no longer rules out the possibility of a future application for NATO membership. Ukraine’s decisions will depend on the Russian parliament’s actions, Buteyko said, evidently alluding to the territorial claims recently raised by both chambers of that body. (Itar-Tass, December 17; see also Perspective section below) Ukrainian officials have recently issued several warnings along these lines, but Buteyko’s statement is unusually explicit.

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