NEW YORK, Aug 25 – Ukraine will press to join the NATO alliance in response to security challenges posed by the military conflict between Russia and Georgia earlier this month, President Viktor Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko also said international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, must provide a multinational peacekeeping force to the region to prevent escalation.

Also, Ukraine was ready to send peacekeeping troops to the region, Yushchenko said.

“This conflict has proved once again that the best means of ensuring the national security of Ukraine and other countries is to participate in the collective security system of free democratic nations, exemplified today by NATO,” Yushchenko said in a letter published by the Washington Post on Monday.

“Ukraine will continue following the path of Euro-Atlantic integration,” Yushchenko said. “This is the path of democracy, freedom and independence.”

Russia invaded Georgia earlier this month after Georgia tried to seize control over its pro-Moscow separatist enclave of South Ossetia. Russia was the only major “peacekeeping” force in South Ossetia, as well as in Abkhazia, another pro-Moscow enclave in Georgia.

Both enclaves are parts of a number of the so-called “frozen conflicts” on the territory of the former Soviet Union that may cause significant threat to international security, Yushchenko said.

“The issues of breakaway regions in newly independent states are complex; too often, they have been treated as bargaining chips in geopolitical games,” Yushchenko said. “But such ‘games’ result in the loss of human lives, humanitarian disasters, economic ruin and the collapse of international security guarantees.”

Yushchenko also voiced concerns that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is stationed in Ukraine’s Sevastopol, may also become a factor of instability.

“The ongoing conflict between Russia and Georgia affects my country's interests. Military operations have taken place close to our borders, and the Russian Black Sea fleet was directly involved,” Yushchenko said. “The question of Ukraine's national security was acutely raised. Given the activities of the Russian fleet, I had to issue a decree regulating its functioning on the territory of Ukraine.”

“Ukraine has become a hostage in the war waged by Russia,” Yushchenko said. “This has prompted Ukrainian authorities and all of our country's people, including those living in the Crimea, to ponder the dangers emanating from the fact that the Russian Black Sea fleet is based on our territory.”

“The tragic events in Georgia also exposed the lack of effective preventive mechanisms by the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other international organizations.

“We in Ukraine hope that the Russian Federation will heed the opinion of the global community so that the issues at hand can be settled through negotiations. We want an end to the looting and destruction of Georgian infrastructure. We must do everything possible to prevent provocations and avoid further massacres.”

“Ukraine favors a wider international representation in the peacekeeping force in the conflict area. A new multilateral format mandated by the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the only way to guarantee security in the conflict zone.

“Before large-scale combat erupted in Georgia, Russian peacekeepers failed to prevent the shelling of Georgian territory by South Ossetian separatists. Indeed, that activity intensified in the days before the greater conflict.

“I strongly hope that that plan will be strictly implemented by the conflicting parties. We are ready to join international efforts to provide relief and help victims resume their peaceful lives. Ukraine also stands ready to take part in the U.N. or OSCE missions by sending peacekeepers.” (jp/ez)