FM Klimkin: Ukraine's accession to EU and NATO possible in medium term

Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO is possible in the medium term, so one should not believe in either a promise of joining in a year or two or the predictions this will happen 30 years from now.

"Accession to the EU and NATO is a matter of the medium term prospects. Do not believe if someone says we will join [NATO and the EU] in a year or two - it's an outright lie that misleads people. If someone tells you it's a matter of at least 30 years, do not believe it either, because the experience shows quite different things," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on the air of 1+1 Ukrainian TV channel on January 8, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

As the minister noted, Ukraine’s accession to NATO requires a consensus within the Alliance. Moreover, Ukraine needs to do much "because we must admit that we are not ready yet," Klimkin explained.

It will be possible to join the EU if Ukraine really works and changes, the foreign minister underscored.

“The current pace [of reforms] in Ukraine will allow joining the EU neither in a year, nor in two or five,” Klimkin noted.