<P> According to numerous independent polls conducted between 2002 and the events of 2014, Ukrainian public opinion on NATO membership was split, with the majority of those polled against joining the military alliance and many identifying it as a threat . According to the FOM - Ukraine pollster, as of April 2009, 57% of Ukrainians polled were against joining the alliance, while 21% were in favor . A Gallup poll conducted in October 2008 showed that 45% associated NATO as a threat to their country, while only 15% associated it with protection . Ukrainian politicians such as Yuriy Yekhanurov and Yulia Tymoshenko stated Ukraine would not join NATO as long as the public continued opposing the move . In 2008 the Ukrainian government started an information campaign, aimed at informing the Ukrainian people about the consequences of membership . </P> <P> The 2010 election returned Viktor Yanukovych as Ukrainian President and marked a turnaround in Ukraine's relations with NATO . In February 2010, he stated that Ukraine's relations with NATO were currently "well - defined", and that there was "no question of Ukraine joining NATO". He said the issue of Ukrainian membership of NATO might "emerge at some point, but we will not see it in the immediate future ." While visiting Brussels in March 2010, he further stated that there would be no change to Ukraine's status as a member of the alliance's outreach program . He later reiterated during a trip to Moscow that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state ." Then, on 3 June 2010 the Ukrainian parliament voted to exclude the goal of "integration into Euro - Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy in a bill drafted by Yanukovych himself . </P> <P> Amid the Euromaidan unrest, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014 . The interim Yatsenyuk Government which came to power, initially said, with reference to the country's non-aligned status, that it had no plans to join NATO . However, following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and parliamentary elections in October 2014, the new government made joining NATO a priority . On 23 December 2014, the Ukrainian parliament renounced Ukraine's non-aligned status that "proved to be ineffective in guaranteeing Ukraine's security and protecting the country from external aggression and pressure". Ukraine and NATO have since held joint seminars and joint tactical and strategical exercises and operations . </P> <P> Since the start of the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, public support for Ukrainian membership in NATO has risen greatly . Since June 2014 polls show that about 50% of those asked voice support for Ukrainian membership . </P>

The only member of nato in southwestern asia