Russia Says NATO "Playing With Fire" On Expansion

[Purveyor]

MOSCOW: Russia warned against NATO expansion into ex-Soviet neighbours Georgia and Ukraine on Friday before a NATO summit next week that will discuss what Moscow sees as encroaching deep into its backyard.

In separate comments, Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov and a Kremlin spokesman said possible NATO membership for the two countries would have repercussions for any plans to deepen Moscow's ties to the Western military alliance.

Lavrov warned Georgia against using NATO membership as a tool to regain control over its rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which broke away in the 1990s and enjoy Russian support.

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"The population of South Ossetia and Abkhazia cannot think of joining NATO," he said after meeting his colleagues from the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States. "In such a complicated issue it's a dangerous game to play with fire."

Georgia, whose pro-Western leaders want to move out of Moscow's orbit, seeks membership in NATO and the European Union. Ukraine also hopes the NATO summit in Bucharest next week will grant it a roadmap towards joining the alliance.

The United States is backing both bids. But France, Germany and some other European nations say such a move would be untimely.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/28/news/OUKWD-UK-NATO-ENLARGEMENT-RUSSIA.php

[SteinbachMB]

1. Don't

...mess with Putin. He's a backstabber if ever there was one. Then again, he must be kept in check. He's a tough nut, with nukes.