KYIV, Ukraine — The vote by Ukraine’s parliament to drop its nonaligned status, which could pave the way for a bid to join NATO, challenges the Kremlin’s ardent desire to keep NATO from taking a giant step toward the Russian heartland.
The move is likely to add difficulties to Wednesday’s round of talks aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis.
Five NATO countries — Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — now share relatively short borders on Russia’s western outskirts, totalling about 1,300 kilometres. Adding Ukraine’s 1,500-kilometre border with Russia to that would move the alliance’s eastward flank substantially, and put it roughly …read more
Source: National Post
