Ukrainian parliament angers Moscow by scrapping 'non-aligned' status

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (R, top) delivers a speech during a session of the parliament in Kiev, November 27, 2014. Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday 100 percent of Ukrainians were in favour of a having single state, without federalisation, in a keynote address to the first session of a new parliament. REUTERS/Mikhail Palinchak/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters

KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday renounced Ukraine's "non-aligned" status with the aim of eventually joining NATO, angering Moscow which views the Western alliance's eastward expansion as a threat to its own security

Kiev first announced its intention of seeking the protection of NATO membership in August following what it deemed the open participation of Russia's military in a separatist war in Ukraine's eastern provinces.