NATO has given Ukraine the aspirant country status. This is a provisional status for a country that is aspiring to join NATO. It does not provide any benefits for Ukraine.

In order to get NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), Ukraine needs to undergo the Intensified Dialogue with positive results, i.e. receive positive assessment of our plans from each of NATO member states.

Only then will Ukraine get MAP and the level of standards that allow it to join NATO. And this is only 20% standards in the security sector, army and so on, all the rest concerns market economy, the rule of law, democracy, justice, etc.

Obviously, countries' assessments are to a great extent affected by the political factor. However, its influence should not be overrated, especially if the country is not implementing reforms: the anti-corruption measures and provisions of the national NATO programme that we keep approving on the annual basis. We are implementing 40–50% of it, not more.

NATO membership is "our homework". And the national programme that each country is implementing annually is developed by the country itself – no one from the outside is preparing this document. The work on programme implementation, roughly speaking, means closing the gap that exists between a NATO member state and an aspirant.