(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-07 16:37

Russia's Opposition to Nato Expansion

NATO's eastward expansion is foremost among other issues that have stood in the way of a warming of Russia-US ties.

Ever since NATO's first eastward expansion in 1999, when Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the group, Russia has vehemently opposed such moves.

Turning a deaf ear to Moscow's opposition, NATO enlarged several times to include 26 nations, before formally including Croatia and Albania as new members earlier this week. Macedonia can join as soon as its name dispute with Greece is settled.

But what has aroused greater Russian concern is Bush's thwarted attempt at the recent NATO summit to put Ukraine and Georgia, two neighbors of Russia, on an immediate path to NATO membership. The bloc, however, decided to keep its doors open for the two countries.

Despite saying "let's be friends, guys" to NATO countries, Putin has been reluctant to alter Russia's attitude towards the bloc's expansion.

"Against whom does NATO exist?" he challenged, saying that circumstances have greatly changed since NATO's creation.

"The emergence of the powerful military bloc at our borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia's security," Putin said Friday in Bucharest.

"I heard them (NATO leaders) saying today that the expansion is not directed against Russia, but it's the potential not intention that matters," he said.

"The efficiency of our cooperation will depend on whether NATO members take Russia's interests into account," he warned.

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