From Interfax: Ukraine does not plan to become a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko told the 2000 newspaper.

Ukraine has not and cannot be invited to join the CSTO because it ‘has made it absolutely clear that it is opposed to membership in any blocs,’ Hryshchenko said.

"Furthermore, the CSTO is too far away from us. The center of this organization is located somewhere in the south, in Central Asia," the minister said.

"The declaration of our opposition to membership in any blocs, as well as our decision to abandon plans to join NATO open up new opportunities to promote partnership and good neighborhood relations with Russia," he said.  (photo: RIA Novosti)

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