Cheney: United States stands by Ukraine NATO bid

KIEV (Reuters) - The United States stands by Ukraine's bid to join the NATO military alliance, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Friday.

"The United States fully supports the right of Ukraine to build ever stronger ties of cooperation and security throughout Europe and across the Atlantic," Cheney said. "We believe that a closer strategic relationship is in the interest of us all."

Referring to a decision taken by NATO at a summit in April that Ukraine would eventually be admitted to the alliance, Cheney said: "That commitment stands today."

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Christian Lowe)