KIEV, Feb. 17 - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that during his visit to Ukraine next week, he plans to discuss Ukraine's possible participation in the NATO missile defense system.

Rasmussen is expected to pay a one-day visit to Ukraine on February 24.

"What I would like to discuss during my visit is the question of Ukraine's possible contribution to the Euro-Atlantic architecture of a missile defense system," Rasmussen told Ukrainian reporters in Brussels on Thursday, Interfax reported.

He said that the decision to create such a system had been made relatively recently.

"We have not yet completed the final design of the architecture, [and] we are at the initial stage of this process. Only two or three months have passed after NATO decided to develop a system on the basis of NATO," Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said that Russia had been invited to cooperate in this project at the alliance's summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

"What we've done during the summit is initiate a joint analysis of Russia-NATO relations as to how we can realize this practical cooperation,” he said.

“If other Euro-Atlantic partners offer their participation and their potential to the architecture of the missile defense system, then, of course, we will take this into account,” Rasmussen said.

“It is too early to give a definitive answer to how this architecture will develop, and this will depend on the contribution of Ukraine and other partners," he said.

Rasmussen also said he believes that Ukraine will benefit from improving relations of the NATO with Russia.

“I believe that taking into consideration a geostrategic position of Ukraine, Ukraine will considerably benefit from improving relations between the NATO and Russia,” Rasmussen said.

Meanwhile, most Ukrainians continue to oppose Ukraine’s possible accession to the alliance, according to an opinion poll released in December 2010.