Ukrainians to Decide on Future NATO Membership in Eventual Vote

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said sanctions against Russia will stay as long as the government in Moscow does little to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Were working on a diplomatic resolution to this crisis, Merkel said today in Berlin. As long as Russia contributes very little or nothing to overcome this crisis, we need economic sanctions. Theyre unavoidable, although I know they impact the German and the European economies.

The stance underscores the growing resolve among Ukraines allies as violence between separatists and government troops sidelines diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated outcome. France today ruled out delivery of a warship to Russia.

More than 4,300 people have been killed during the almost eight-month conflict in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and much of the local infrastructure has been laid to waste in rebel-held areas of Ukraine. The U.S., NATO and the European Union accuse President Vladimir Putin of fueling the crisis by aiding the separatists, a charge Russia denies. Ukraine says Russian troops and vehicles continue to cross the border.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to pull back its forces from eastern Ukraine and respect a wobbly truce, which has been breached repeatedly since it was signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, more than two months ago. He also said that the alliance would stick by a 2008 decision to let Ukraine join if it eventually meets the criteria and decides to do so, even if membership isnt being discussed now.

We are calling on Russia to stop violating international law and to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, Stoltenberg told lawmakers from NATO countries in The Hague yesterday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the former Soviet republic will decide in a referendum at the end of the decade whether to seek North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership once it completes necessary policy changes. Admission to the military alliance requires agreement by all member states, currently 28.

Ukraines government said Sept. 26 that it seeks NATO membership in the short term. Putin has criticized the U.S. and EU countries for encroaching into former communist Europe, saying they have violated agreements signed at the end of the Cold War and pose a threat to his countrys national security.

The decision on its future ties with NATO is for Ukraine alone to make, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and the Czech Republic said at a briefing in Prague.

The situation in Ukraine means the terms for delivery of the first of two Mistral warships to Russia have not been met, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France Inter radio today. President Francois Hollande has said the Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and the separatists must be enforced before France can transfer the helicopter carriers.

See original here:
Ukrainians to Decide on Future NATO Membership in Eventual Vote