KIEV, december 29. /TASS/. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law the bill cancelling Ukraine's non-bloc status. Poroshenko said Ukraine will hold a referendum on accession to NATO in the next 5-6 years.

“I want to carry out reforms to make the country meet the standards of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. These standards coincide 99%. When Ukraine meets these standards, the Ukrainian people will hold a referendum on a possible accession to NATO within the next five or six years,” Poroshenko said.

The non-aligned status, which Ukraine adopted in 2010, “is a strategic cardinal mistake”, he said.

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, last week voted to give up Ukraine’s non-aligned status. The bill submitted by Petro Poroshenko envisioned giving up the status of a non-aligned state and returning to the policy of rapprochement with NATO.

In late November, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the membership may be sought by countries that fulfil the criteria for becoming NATO allies, and that is also valid for Ukraine. Ukraine cannot join NATO as long as an armed conflict continues in the east of the country.

Kiev started building ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine was one of the first former Soviet states which joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program in 1994.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the idea of Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership is dangerous not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for entire European security.