"Ukraine is high on the list of NATO's strategic priorities. We had some tough moments between Ukraine and NATO, but I believe it's changing significantly," Roberston told reporters after a closed-door meeting of NATO defence ministers and representatives of the former Soviet republic.

"The worst of the problems are over," he said, adding that some issues still remained.

General Yevhen Marchuk, the head of Ukraine's security and defence council said the meeting had been very useful, though he implied the talking had also been tough.

"The talks between friends sometimes do not sound like the sweetest of music, but they were most helpful," he said.

Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance took a nosedive over Kiev's alleged sale of military radar equipment to the regime of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

While NATO is due to welcome seven new member countries -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -- during 2004, other problems still loom over Ukraine's eventual membership.

Starved of funds and crippled by corruption, the Ukranian army has fallen into a dreadful state since independence and NATO has insisted on draconian reforms.

SPACE.WIRE