Britain made clear to Moscow that NATO's open-door policy won't change, Wallace says

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's defence minister said on Thursday that Ukraine was on a pathway towards NATO membership and that London had made it clear to the Kremlin that the alliance's policy of welcoming new members will not change.

"We remain an open-door organization," Ben Wallace told reporters at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. "I've made it very clear to the Kremlin that countries choose NATO. NATO doesn't go around choosing the countries."

Wallace also said NATO was right to respond to what he said were 150,000 Russian troops massed on Russia's borders near Ukraine. "This is a real challenge to the stability of Europe."

(Reporting by Robin Emmott)