BRUSSELS. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Ukraine would like to receive the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) together with Georgia, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
"Today, our short-term strategy is certainly to obtain a Membership Action Plan. We want to keep up with Georgia and, ideally, get the MAP together with Georgia, and we are actively working on this. I think that our meeting today is quite a positive and important, symbolic signal and gives us a good charge and a good hope," Shmyhal said at a press conference after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Tuesday.
He emphasized that NATO membership is an important priority for Ukraine and this is spelled out in the Ukrainian Constitution.
"We have endorsed a number of bills, we continue to reform our Armed Forces, we continue the transition to NATO standards, we conduct joint exercises, we take part in joint international operations with NATO, and we really have a lot of groundwork that gives us hope for the quick completion of our homework. As the secretary general said today, achieving NATO standards in the Ukrainian security and defense sector will be the precondition for when we get the opportunity to become a full member," Shmyhal said.