Ukraine’s parliament today voted unanimously to approve joint military exercises with NATO in the coming months, including two sets of exercises with the United States, two with Poland, and one with Romania.
Ukrainian acting Defense Minister Mykhalio Koval said the move was a straightforward chance to improve the military’s capabilities, which are very much in doubt giving both the age of their equipment and a widespread defections during the Crimean annexation.
The move sparked a warning from the Russian Foreign Ministry against getting too cozy with NATO, saying growing Ukraine-NATO ties would cause problems both for Russia-NATO relations and for economic ties.
The warning went on to say that “future economic ties will largely depend on the actions Ukraine takes in its foreign policy.” Though Ukraine’s interim government is keen to improve ties with the EU, they remain greatly dependent on Russia for trade, especially in energy.
