The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will continue to strengthen strategic partnership with Ukraine, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary-general of the Western alliance, said Monday.

At a meeting with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, de Hoop Scheffer indicated that a plan approved in November 2002, aimed atboosting a closer relationship between the two sides, has laid a foundation for developing bilateral cooperation and will help Ukraine become a NATO member.

He also praised Ukraine for its contribution to peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Iraq.

Kuchma noted that Ukraine hailed NATO's eastward enlargement, saying his country will try its best to join the alliance as soon as possible.

The president said that through participation in peacekeeping missions and other cooperation, "we want to emphasize that we intend to move seriously towards NATO."

After Ukraine joined the NATO Partnership for Peace program in February 1994, the first among the 15 former Soviet republics to do so, it signed a special partnership charter with the military alliance in 1997 which outlined the framework of Ukrainian-NATO relations.

Ukraine began seeking NATO membership in May 2002. Last month, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a memorandum of understanding to allow NATO troops a quick entry into the country.

Source: Xinhua