Georgia joining NATO would spark ‘horrible conflict,’ Russian official warns

Top Russian officials warned this week that “horrible conflict” will follow if Georgia is allowed to join NATO, adding even more tension to an already simmering situation in the region.

The remarks on Tuesday from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev come a decade after the brief Russia-Georgia war of 2008, and just weeks after top NATO leaders said flatly that Georgia is destined to join the international body.

But Moscow argues that ongoing territorial disputes between Russia and Georgia — the impetus for the 2008 conflict — remain unsettled, and that those issues must be addressed before Georgia can be allowed into NATO. Admitting Georgia to NATO without first solving those matters, Mr. Medvedev warned, could lead to even more bloodshed.

“There is an unresolved territorial conflict … and would they bring such a country into the military alliance?” he said in an interview this week broadcast on Russian state television. “Do they understand the possible implications? It could provoke a horrible conflict.”

Any effort to change the current dynamic — which includes Russian military presence in the disputed areas South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions — will bring with it grave consequences, Mr. Medvedev said.

“I hope that NATO’s leadership will be smart enough not to take any steps in that direction,” he said.

Meanwhile, NATO has been firm in its intent to admit Georgia to its ranks. Late last month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Georgian leaders and said the process is already underway.

“We fully support Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. Georgia will become a member of NATO,” he said at a July 18 press conference. “Allied leaders reaffirmed this. … We will continue to work with you to prepare for membership.”

“NATO supports Georgia’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, which includes the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” he continued.

Top officials from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were in Georgia this week as a show of solidarity against Moscow, urging Russia to withdraw its troops and end its practice of changing international boundaries by force.