OREANDA-NEWS. Ukraine will not be able to become a NATO member within its current borders, said former Deputy Foreign Minister of the country, Oleksandr Chaly.

In an interview with the Khvylya channel, the diplomat said that the Declaration on the Proclamation of Ukraine's Sovereignty of 1990 was based on two principles that were in a single package - neutrality and nuclear disarmament.

“When we received guarantees, we received guarantees from five members of the UN Security Council with nuclear weapons,” Chaly explained.

Chaly stressed that Ukraine should abide by the Budapest Memorandum, that is, adhere to a policy of neutrality.

“A fantastic, constructive path opened before us, if we had gone, we would never have had 14 years. That is, to base our policy on the Budapest Memorandum,” the diplomat continued.

However, having signed this document, Ukraine "forgot" about it and in the mid-1990s adopted a course towards integration into NATO, Chaly added.

"That is, we have adopted a different concept of security, that our security will be ensured by our membership in NATO. These are two completely different concepts that do not take off together," he explained.

The former deputy foreign minister also said that Ukraine would not be able to join the North Atlantic Alliance with the entire current territory.

“In practice, we cannot be in it by definition, due to our geopolitical position. Or, to be more precise, but then with a completely different territory than the one that we have within the borders of 1991,” Chaly said.

He added that this state of affairs is due to the balance of power, and not international law.