Ukraine must participate in European security system — Yanukovych

Ukraine must participate in efforts to build collective security for Europe, one of the country's presidential candidates and an opposition leader said, according to RIA Novosti.

"Ukraine should take an active part in developing a European collective security system," pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, who leads the opposition Party of Regions, told the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV Monday evening.

Yanukovych also spoke for the ex-Soviet state's further cooperation with NATO, but stressed that it should stay outside of the alliance.

The pro-Western leaderships of Ukraine and Georgia have been seeking to join the Western military alliance, but at the NATO summit in April 2008, members refused to admit the post-Soviet countries into the Membership Action Plan (MAP), a key step for membership.