ANKARA - The turmoil the European Union is facing over the EU constitution has not discouraged Ukraine from trying to join the bloc, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said here Tuesday.
"We see our future in integration with Europe," Yushchenko, on an official visit in Turkey, told a conference.
"Ukraine is an indivisible part of the European civilization and European Union membership is a strategic objective for Ukraine.
"The developments related to the rejection of the European constitution have not discouraged Ukraine," he said. "United Europe is a unique and extraordinary project. I want to see these developments not as a rule but as an exception."
After coming to power in the so-called "Orange Revolution" in December, Yushchenko began diplomatic moves to have his former pariah state more widely accepted in the West.
But while the European Union and NATO have pledged to boost ties with the new Ukrainian leadership they say it is too early to talk about membership.
Yushchenko also lent support to Ankara's EU accession bid, saying that both Turkey and Ukraine would contribute to Europe's unity.
The Ukrainian leader also emphasized that his country's orientation towards Europe would not weaken its traditionally close ties with Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet bloc.
"Kiev sees Moscow as a good neighbor and a reliable partner," he said. "Improving further our relations will be to the benefit not only of our two countries but the whole world."
Following talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara on Monday and Tuesday, Yushchenko is to wrap up his visit after meetings with Turkish business leaders in Istanbul on Wednesday.
06/07/2005 17:26 GMT