U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Ukrainian leaders Friday that the door to membership in the NATO alliance remains open. Slowing her delivery to emphasize the NATO issue, Clinton told the government officials she wanted to make it clear that the U.S. would not pressure Ukraine to join NATO. She said it is up to Ukraine to choose its own alliances and to make such decisions in line with its own security interests.
Clinton arrived in the Ukrainian capital at dawn and was spending the day in a series of meetings with top government officials. She has already held talks with President Yanukovich.
Ukrainian opposition expects that Clinton`s recommendations will refer protection of freedom of speech, freedom of opposition and development of democratic institutions in the country.
`First of all the leaders will talk about stagnation of democracy in our country. As for the internal political problems, we should resolve them by ourselves. We need stimulation. We should not be waiting for assistance from the US or the West for resolution of the internal issues. The Ukrainian opposition supports dialogue with the US. And within the dialogue, the main thing should be democracy and protection of human rights`, parliament members Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
`We can`t talk about outcomes of the visit yet, but I am sure that the main thing the leaders will talk about will be how Ukraine should not digress from democracy and the old way of foreign policy. We should not admit establishing authoritarian regime in the country. The agreements signed by the government, especially those ones signed with Russia secretly, would be discussed at the meeting`, parliament member Sergei Kirilenko said.
Within the tour to Central Europe and Caucasus, Hilary Clinton will also visit Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
