VILNIUS, October 24 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko said Monday that Ukraine expected to join NATO by 2008, but that the organization's head was hesitant to outline the timeframe.
Hrytsenko spoke after informal Ukraine-NATO talks in Vilnius with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the defense ministers of Ukraine, Lithuania and the United States.
Scheffer said Ukraine-NATO relations would depend on the success of reform in the Ukrainian defense sector.
Hrytsenko said Ukraine expected to become a NATO member by 2008 and the main goal was to destroy Soviet stereotypes about the alliance.
He said Ukraine's accession to NATO would not affect its relations with Russia.
The Vilnius meeting approved NATO program to improve the training of Ukrainian military personnel.
