Cooperation between Russia and Ukraine will be largely dependent on Kiev's geopolitical choice, Moscow said Tuesday.
The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that Ukraine enacted a law in 2010, which guarantees the country's non-alignment with any military-political blocks, Xinhua reported.
Moscow and Kiev also signed a declaration on strategic partnership which mentioned Ukraine's non-alignment status as well, the ministry noted.
"Kiev must understand that further prospective of Russia-Ukraine cooperation, including in the economic sphere, will depend, to a large extent, on its foreign policy action," the ministry said.
Russia cited remarks of Ukraine's acting President Olexander Turchinov Monday that Kiev was mulling changes in its neutral status as the Ukrainian parliament discussed a bill on the issue.
"Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine used to be discussed actively during the presidency of Victor Yushchenko. That has led to a freeze of Kiev's contacts with Russia and to headache in Russia-NATO relations," the statement said.
It added that pro-Western aspirations of Ukrainian authorities led to even deeper chasm in that country's society, as the majority of Ukraine's population did not support joining NATO.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Turchinov said the issue of Ukraine's geopolitical affiliation was "acute" and Kiev has been negotiating on that topic.
