MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian lawmaker on Friday lashed out at Ukraine's decision to join NATO saying that it "cannot be called far-sighted or correct."
The decision "was announced just like in classical intrigues, when the U.S. president's plane was making its final approach to the Russian capital," Andrei Nikolayev, chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma lower house of parliament, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"I have to admit that the relations between Russia and Ukraine have become cooler lately," Nikolayev said.
Ukraine's intention to apply for membership in the North Atlantic Alliance "is based on the erroneous understanding of NATO's nature and importance," the lawmaker stressed. "Ukrainian officials are engaged in wishful thinking. According to them, the alliance is no longer a military structure, but the U.S. secretary of defense has been insistently proving the contrary in the past few days," he noted.
"The U.S. secretary of defense and NATO Secretary General Robertson have announced that NATO is primarily a military bloc. This is what the United States wants it to be," Nikolayev stressed.
He noted that Ukraine's intention to join NATO had certainly been discussed at the recent meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents in Sochi, "but no solution to the problem has been found."