George BUSH: Ukraine May Join NATO

In an exclusive interview with the US Russian-language newspaper Novoye Russkoye Slovo (New Russian Word) US President George W. Bush said that he has not ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO if the alliance’s leadership decides on further enlargement and if this country meets the required criteria. Asked about his attitude to Ukraine’s intention to join NATO in the short term and Russia’s objection to this, President Bush said, “Putin had serious apprehensions when the Baltic and East European countries were joining NATO and the alliance came very close to Russia’s Kaliningrad. We had a constructive dialogue with Russia and removed all obstacles to NATO enlargement, which makes Europe safer without compromising the security of Russia,” the US president said. “If the NATO leadership decides on further enlargement and if Ukraine meets the criteria we set, I am sure we will conduct a serious discussion with all interested parties to avoid any misunderstanding,” he pointed out.