Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said that comments by Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Ukraine's NATO membership prospects were taken out of context, stressing that the country's course toward joining the Alliance remains unchanged.
Tykhyi made the statement in a comment to journalists, according to Ukrinform.
"The ambassador's remarks regarding Ukraine's prospects for NATO membership were taken out of context and sparked controversy, even though the full quote primarily referred to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), not NATO. This is logical because the United Kingdom is the framework nation and leader of the JEF," Tykhyi said.
He added that matters related to Ukraine's NATO accession fall within the remit of Ukraine's Mission to NATO.
"To prevent further manipulation, I would like to reiterate our long-standing official position: Ukraine's course toward joining the North Atlantic Alliance remains unchanged. At present, there is no other effective collective security system besides the one based on the Washington Treaty," Tykhyi said.
