Ukraine president vows to join NATO if re-elected

Yuschenko came to power in 2004 on the back of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in protest at rigged elections results.

President Victor Yushchenko said Monday he would make EU and NATO membership his top priorities for Ukraine if he is re-elected when the nation goes to the polls on January 17.

- My goal is Ukraine joining the European Union - said Yuschenko as he presented his election manifesto. He also vowed to secure the country's - full participation in the Euro-Atlantic security partnership. -

- Ukraine will continue to define its own foreign policy - he added in a barely concealed warning to the Russian government, which opposes his pro-Western policies.

Yuschenko also said he would not extend a 1997 agreement with Russia that allows Moscow to keep ships in Ukrainian waters. "The Russian fleet in the Black Sea will leave Ukraine in 2017," he said.

Yuschenko came to power in 2004 on the back of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in protest at rigged elections results.

His popularity has since waned, and opinion polls suggest he would take between four and five percent of the vote.

Five years on, hopes of prosperity have been set back by economic crisis which saw the Ukrainian currency lose 40 percent of its value and aspirations of political stability undermined by bickering leaders.

Yuschenko's one-time ally and now rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is also running for the presidency and is forecast to pick up 20 to 25 percent of ballots case.

But both trail well behind the pro-Moscow candidate, Victor Yanukovich, who is expected to win 28 to 40 percent of the vote.