Warns that NATO admission of Georgia could trigger “terrible conflict”

Yesterday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that any future NATO decision to admit Georgia to its ranks could trigger "a terrible conflict" - and he questiones why the alliance would consider such a move.

This is reported by The Moscow Times.

The comments from the Russian PM come weeks after President Vladimir Putin warned NATO against cultivating closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia, saying such a policy was irresponsible and would have unspecified consequences for the alliance.

“This (Georgia’s entry to NATO) could provoke a terrible conflict. I don’t understand what they are doing this for," Medvedev told the Russian newspaper Kommersant newspaper in an interview.

Georgia's NATO ambitions have been a source of anger for Russia — which shares a border with ex-Soviet republic Georgia and does not want to see it join the military bloc.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze, met just a few weeks ago in NATO’s headquarter.

During the visit, on 18 July, the Secretary General praised Georgia’s contributions to the Alliance’s training mission both in the NATO response Force and in Afghanistan.

Stoltenberg also reiterated NATO’s support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, pointing to the NATO Summit earlier in July when all 29 Allies reaffirmed that Georgia will become a member of NATO.

“This is in line with the decision we made at our Bucharest Summit in 2008,” Stoltenberg said.