NATO said on Saturday it had set up a trust fund to help Ukraine destroy 133,000 tonnes of surplus munitions, 1.5 million small arms and light weapons as well as man-portable air defence systems. "The project -- the largest single demilitarisation effort in the world -- is a practical demonstration of NATO's continuing commitment to support Ukraine's defence reform," the Atlantic Alliance said in a statement. The weapons will be destroyed over a period of 12 years. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, newly appointed by President Viktor Yushchenko who came to power after last year's "Orange Revolution", has said that one of the government's main aims was to join NATO. The issue of entering NATO was proposed by Yushchenko's predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, but was considered impossible given Western criticism of his record on human rights and corruption. NATO has said Ukraine must modernise its army, which has been run on a shoestring since the end of the Cold War cut lavish financing, and reduce its munitions.
