The FINANCIAL -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev considers that Ukraine should hold a referendum on the accession of the country to NATO , the press service of the Russian president said.

"Ukraine: there was no referendum. There are certain expectations of people regarding this issue. Two thirds of the country does not back the idea of the accession to NATO , and certain Ukraine ’s leaders permanently push the state to NATO . If they are eager to do this anyway, they should hold a referendum," Medvedev told the CNN TV company.

At the same time, he said that Ukraine ’s accession to NATO would not be the best decision for Russia.

The president of Russia, said he does not make any recommendations for Ukraine , he just mentioned that Ukrainian politicians should think of the referendum.

At the same time, Medvedev said that Ukraine ’s accession to NATO is a sovereign right of Ukraine .

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, President Viktor Yuschenko considers that there are no alternative for NATO among collective security systems.

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