Updated on 11:03 p.m. Moscow Time
NEWPORT (UK), September 4 (RIA Novosti) – NATO member states have proposed military cooperation on bilateral basis to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told reporters during the NATO summit Thursday.
Poroshenko vowed that his country will “do everything possible” to reach an immediate ceasefire at the forthcoming Contact Group meeting in Minsk Friday.
The Ukrainian President also stressed that his country’s cooperation with NATO is not limited to the security sector.
“The war on the east of the country is not excuse for not providing the reform in the country. And that’s why next week we will present it, the program of the reform which was developed in the strong cooperation with the European Union and NATO and I think that the new parliamentary election will help us a lot for accelerate the reform process,” Poroshenko said, noting that the reform will concern the “economy, rule of law, anti-corruption” and other spheres.
Ukraine will hold early parliamentary elections on October 26.
Petro Poroshenko has repeatedly stressed the necessity of forming a new parliament in the country, noting that the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada, the official name for Ukraine’s parliament, does not represent the interests of Ukrainian society.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government has approved legislation to change the country’s “non-bloc” status and begin efforts to join NATO, introduced in the Ukrainian parliament by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on August 29.
Meanwhile, NATO regulations do not allow countries involved in territorial disputes to become members of the organization, currently the case for Ukraine as it refuses to acknowledge Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
