&host=rt.com&uri=/usa/news/russia-join-nato/&via=(none)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
Russia might join NATO – former high-ranked alliance official
Published: 19 February, 2010, 21:53
Edited: 17 March, 2010, 07:41
TAGS: NATO, Russia, Baltic states, History, Prime Time Russia, USA
There is room for Russia in the alliance inner circle, said former NATO Secretary General George Robertson in an interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Robertson believes there is no reason why Russia could not eventually join NATO if the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation continues to expand at the rate it is doing at the moment.
On the same day, Andrey Nesterov, a spokesman from the foreign ministry of Russia, said that NATO is a very close partner of Russia, especially when it comes to matters of security. Relationship between Russia and NATO is a partnership with mutual benefits, Nesterov added.
Nesterov also said that as long as NATO continues to stick to provisions set down by the 2002 Rome summit, there is no reason why Russia cannot continue to be a strong and helpful ally towards NATO.
Russian experts, however, say even if there may be something to the suggestion, there will more likely be stronger partnership than Russia actually joining the alliance.
“To be a member of an alliance, there should be trust, and we should say there is no trust between Russia and NATO in general, especially between Russia and new members of the alliance – the Baltic states, Poland, and other central and eastern European countries,” Ruslan Pukhov, political analyst and Director of Centre for Strategic Analysis, told RT. “NATO is doomed to choose between cooperation with Russia and good relations with its new members. This is one of the main obstacles for Russia to have closer cooperation with NATO.”
“Obviously, there is certain room for cooperation to fight terrorism in Afghanistan, drugs, human trafficking. But the main target of NATO – to keep Russians out of Europe and to keep Americans in – has not changed since the time the first Secretary General said about it in mid 1950s,” Pukhov added. “Russia can become a member of NATO, but only in very distant future if the circumstances have changed.”
Russia-NATO relations have a long history. In the early 1950s, the Soviet Union wanted to join the alliance, but it was knocked back by the member nations. Instead, they offered the USSR cooperation that prompted the Soviet Union to form the Warsaw Pact with the countries of Eastern Europe and eventually led to a lot of tensions throughout the 20th century and the Cold War.
19.02.2010, 10:38
11 comments
Russo-American WWII hero celebratedThe extraordinary life story of “Jumpin’ Joe” Beyrle, a G.I. who managed to fight the Nazis in both the Soviet and US armies, is being celebrated in an exhibition in St. Petersburg. |
20.02.2010, 05:40
2 comments
Economic crimes bureau launched in New York to look after Wall StreetA major economic crimes bureau has been created in New York to crack down on financial crimes on Wall Street. |
The change required for Russia, or other ex-Soviet countries to join NATO simply cannot be met. The cost of bringing military equipment up to NATO standards, and the cultural differences between the Russian, and Western Armies could only be accomplished with multi-generational change. The future will be an EU military alliance, with English-speaking countries going their own way.
Russia and NATO should continue cooperation and Russia WILL eventually join once the Baltic states and certain Eastern EU countries are assured of Russian intentions. Islamic Extremism is THE THREAT of the 21st century. Certain people in Russia have to get over the cold war. WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER just as we did durring WWII. Stop whining about American Imperializm and realize everytime Russia sells nuke tech to these groups it endangers us all. The U.S. needs to do more too by not arming regimes that latter turn on us do to extremism. This is done often over oil. The U.S., NATO, and Russia need each other now more than ever. Split Infinity
I think Russia is well capable of defending itself and her people without the help of NATO....NAto did not do a whole lot to help the prople of srebrenecia when they were being butchered and dutch UN troops stood idly by.Russia proved itself to be a better protecter of people when they dismantled georgian agressors in a matter of hours..BRAVO