Russia base won't affect Ukraine NATO prospect-NATO

TALLINN, April 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's signing of an agreement extending the lease of a Russian naval base in Crimea does not affect its prospect of eventually joining NATO, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.

Rasmussen said NATO policies had not changed since it promised Ukraine eventual membership at a summit in 2008. "It's a bilateral agreement and it will not have an impact on our relationship neither with Russia nor with Ukraine," he said of the base deal. (reporting by David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed)