There was no foreseeable hope for Ukraine joining Nato. This was not about to happen. Russian speaking and Russian are different. If tactical nukes were used on the battlefield then that would elicit Nato intervention in a big way.
Ron you quote everything CNN but you can't find this type of stuff NBC from well before the coup {2009} and the annexation of Crimea
Washington supports Ukraine's bid to join NATO and the former Soviet republic is free to choose its own foreign policy alliances regardless of what other nations want, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukraine's president on Tuesday.
Both assertions were a shot at Russia, which vehemently opposes having its neighbors join the Western military alliance and is uncomfortable with their desire for greater economic and political integration with West.
Biden met with President Viktor Yushchenko in Kiev, then said in a speech later that if Ukraine chooses to join NATO, "which I believe you have, we strongly support that."
Polls have shown a majority of Ukrainians to be against NATO membership.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, were looking for signals that Washington's effort to improve ties with Moscow would not hurt its Western integration, and also for support as Russia tries to reassert some control over its former Soviet satellite states.