Projects for the entry of Ukraine and Georgia into the North Atlantic Alliance are being implemented equally unsuccessfully, said Evgenia Voiko, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Political Science at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Sputnik writes.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that the deployment of NATO strike systems in Georgia would create an immediate threat to the Russian Federation and its allies, and for Moscow this is a “red line”.
“The situation here actually duplicates a similar case with Ukraine, around which discussions are underway now. Russia has once again emphasized that Euro-Atlantic integration is undesirable for it. The situation is similar. Maybe Georgia and Ukraine are simultaneously moving towards integration into NATO, but so far this project is being implemented equally unsuccessfully”, Voiko said.
According to her, it is more profitable for the North Atlantic Alliance to create a “threat of membership” than to actually accept Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. Voiko stressed that Georgia is not taking any concrete steps to join the alliance. However, NATO continues to build up its unconditional presence in the region.
“The Alliance is ready to provide support within the framework of the expanded partnership program, but we are talking about support with expert, advisory, financial, support with weapons, joint training events and so on. In the future, these countries are expected to join the Alliance. But we see that this stage has already dragged on and in the hands of NATO remains the opportunity either to strengthen its military presence, in particular in Georgia, or not to do it”, the expert concluded.