Georgia’s accession to NATO may trigger "a terrible conflict" and lead to catastrophic consequences, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Kommersant FM radio station, a portion of which was broadcast on Monday, TASS reports.
He pointed out that the 2008 armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, which also involved Russia, could have been prevented. "It was not inevitable," Medvedev stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, stated that Moscow would view NATO’s further expansion, including the accession of Georgia and Ukraine, highly negatively.