"NATO’s job is to put Ukraine in a position to where Ukraine is able to apply…and they will not apply until they have moved further in their reforms," Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels.
Kiev authorities are actively seeking NATO membership. In November 2014, President Petro Poroshenko said that Ukraine should hold a referendum by 2020 to decide on joining the North Atlantic alliance.
In December, the Ukrainian parliament voted to scrap the country’s non-aligned status, paving the way for the country to apply to join NATO.
Late in May, Poroshenko approved Ukraine's new national security strategy, which emphasizes the strengthening of military-technical cooperation with the alliance.
NATO officials, however, have repeatedly denied any short-term prospects of Ukraine joining the bloc. In May, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea said Kiev must deal with the crisis in Ukraine’s southeast prior to applying for membership.
