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NATO's Second-In-Command Says Russia Is Now An Enemy, Not A Partner

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  • NATO's Second-In-Command Says Russia Is Now An Enemy, Not A Partner

    NATO'S SECOND-IN-COMMAND SAYS RUSSIA IS NOW AN ENEMY, NOT A PARTNER

    http://rt.com/usa/156204-nato-vershbow-russia-adversary/
    Published time: May 01, 2014 17:08

    NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow (AFP Photo /
    Yuri Kadobnov)

    NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow now says that the
    allied group has been compelled to treat Russia "as more of an enemy
    than a partner," according to an Associated Press report published
    Thursday.

    The 61-year-old former United States ambassador to Russia reportedly
    told journalists this week that Moscow's role in the ongoing crisis
    in Ukraine has forced NATO to reconsider the alliance's opinion on
    Russia, and that additional troops may soon be mobilized to the region
    as tensions worsen.

    AP journalist Robert Burns wrote on Thursday that Vershbow said the
    Kremlin's perceived part in the recent events in Ukraine "marks a
    turning point in decades of effort by NATO to draw Moscow closer."

    NATO's second-in-command reportedly told journalists that the alliance
    is now considering new measures meant to counter any future acts of
    aggression on the part of Russia aimed at partner nations, and soon
    could deploy a larger number of combat forces to Eastern Europe.

    Journalists reporting for Civil.Ge wrote on Thursday that Vershbow
    told the audience at a panel discussion in Washington, DC one day
    earlier that NATO should deploy "defensive assets to the region."

    "We need to step up our support for defense reforms and military
    modernization of Russia's neighbors, and not just of Ukraine, but also
    Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan," Vershbow said, according to
    the Civil Georgia site.

    NATO should think about "upgrading" joint exercises among partner
    nations, the site quoted Vershbow as saying during the event,
    while acknowledging that deploying forces to Georgia would be a
    "controversial" maneuver.

    "It is also important for the United States to show leadership... to
    make sure that next steps that NATO will make, for example at the
    summit in September, will be adequate response to what's happening in
    Ukraine," the Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania said during
    the discussion.

    "The West should now seize the opportunity and create the reality on
    the ground by accepting membership of aspirant countries, by putting
    purely defensive assets in aspirant countries and predominantly
    in Georgia," Alasania added. "What is important now is to put some
    deterrent capabilities on the ground like air defense and anti-armor
    capabilities that will give us a chance to defend our freedom, because
    we know that if things go wrong at this point no one is coming to
    save us; we've seen that in 2008."

    Earlier this week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the
    builduip of NATO troops near Russia's border was "unprecedented."

    Weeks earlier, the US Air Force commander in charge of NATO's military
    presence in Europe said that US troops may soon be deployed to the
    region as tensions continue to worsen near the border between Ukraine
    and Russia.

    For weeks now, officials in Washington and Kiev have claimed that the
    recent separation of Crimea from Ukraine and the rash of uprisings in
    the country's eastern part are the direct result of destabilization
    efforts spearheaded by Moscow, and both the US and European Union have
    introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia as a result. The
    Kremlin has refuted these claims and rebuffed the sanctions, however,
    and earlier this week Russian Pres. Vladimir Putinaccused the White
    House of orchestrating the Ukrainian crisis.

    "I think what is happening now shows us who really was mastering the
    process from the beginning. But in the beginning, the United States
    preferred to remain in the shadow," Putin said this week.

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