Ukrainian authorities are keen to join the alliance, insisting it will ensure a secure future for the country.

However, its population is split on the issue. Opinion polls show that more than half of Ukraine's population have a deeply negative view of NATO, especially those in the east of the country, which has close ties with Russia.

At a NATO summit in Bucharest in April, the alliance refused to admit Ukraine and Georgia to its MAP, despite US President George W. Bush's strong support for the bid by the former Soviet states.

NATO said it would reconsider the countries' NATO bid at a meeting of its foreign ministers in December.

Members of the NATO delegation meet with Ukrainian government officials in Kiev, Ukraine, June 16, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2008)