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U.S. State Dept. Disavows Lavrov Info
The U.S. State Department is unaware of assurances made by U.S. officials that it would block Georgia’s entry into NATO in the event of further aggression by that country, official State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the Associated Press. He was referring to a statement made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on September 11 in Warsaw.
During his visit to Poland, the Russian foreign minister stated that “high-placed” representatives of the Bush administration told him that “if Georgia undertakes armed action against South Ossetia, the U.S. will refuse Georgia entry into NATO.” Lavrov went on to criticize “artificial” membership in the alliance, saying that problems could be solved without the mechanical expansion of the bloc toward the borders of Russia.
Georgia has still not taken on an obligation of nonuse of force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Moreover, according to the Russian General Staff, the Georgian Air Force, whose battle-readiness was reduced to zero in the recent war, is rapidly arming itself. As before the war, the United States is the main military aid provider to Georgia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has made new anti-Russia statements as well. “If NATO shows weakness and is frightened [of expanding its influence is post-Soviet territories], Russian aggression will turn into an endless story,” he claimed.
Saakashvili said Georgia and Ukraine should enter the military alliance together, adding that, if there was a war in Georgia, there will definitely be one in Ukraine as well. At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April, a decision on membership action plans for the two former Soviet states was postponed until December.
www.kommersant.com
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