Ukraine’s NATO Entry to Harm Relations With Russia

Russia`s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov stated that Ukraine`s NATO entry would strain bilateral relations with Russia, RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.

He made this statement in the course of a session of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission security subcommittee in Kiev. Ukraine has a sovereign right to join the Western security alliance, but this move will have negative consequences for bilateral relations, Ivanov said.

At the same time he noticed that it would be up to the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian political elite to decide on the most effective forms of their security.

Russian defense officials are seriously concerned over NATO’s ongoing eastward expansion. NATO’s policy remains unchanged, despite changes in the international situation, the chief of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, Yury Balueyvsky said.

Russia is worrying that the countries entering NATO become a “gray zone”, as they are no longer subjected to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, he added.

The CFE treaty establishes limits on military hardware and troop numbers for all countries from the Atlantic to the Urals, and aims to establish a military balance on the European continent.

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