MOSCOW IS REPEATING THE BALTIC ERROR; Baluyevsky is pushing Ukraine and Georgia into NATO

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Russia's attitude to the NATO membership aspirations of its neighbors; If Russia wishes to delay NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, it should withdraw its threats and change its tone. It should call on Kiev and Tbilisi to expand cooperation in the areas where this is possible, and discuss disputed issues without any excess publicity.
Moscow is continuing to send contradictory messages to NATO, Ukraine, and Georgia in relation to the NATO membership aspirations of these two countries. Assurances that Russia will not permit relations with these countries to deteriorate are interspersed with threats and supplemented with silence on questions that require public explanations (such as leaks about the possibility of taking away the Crimea). Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky made a controversial statement on Friday, April 11: promising that if Kiev and Tbilisi join NATO, Russia would take "not only military measures," but also "measures of another nature." This has intrigued half the world, but Baluyevsky didn't go into details.
Moscow is giving its opponents more and more pretexts to accuse it of behaving in a militant manner and disrespecting its nearest neighbors. In point of fact, Baluyevsky and whoever writes his lines ought to take a few aspects of the situation into account.
Firstly, the fears raised by Baluyevsky and other proponents of hysteria in relation to Ukraine and Georgia aren't necessarily prevalent in Russian society. Secondly, the promises of military and other measures, generating associations of intensified confrontation, contradict Russia's simultaneous messages to the effect that relations must not be permitted to deteriorate. This provides a pretext for saying that Moscow's policy in an important area of foreign affairs is inconsistent. Thirdly, demonstrating a militant approach to issues that are still being dealt with at the level of politics and diplomacy complicates Russia's relations with its neighbors and NATO (and an even broader circle of countries, given rising apprehensions). Fourthly, a harsh tone from Russia facilitates consolidation among political forces and the public in Ukraine and Georgia, lending strength to proponents of NATO membership.
When we approached NATO Headquarters for comments about Baluyevsky's statements, we were told that "NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia is only a matter of time," and that "the choices made by Kiev and Tbilisi have nothing to do with any other countries."
NATO is waiting for Moscow to explain what kind of measures it intends to take. As at April 13, no public explanations had been provided. Neither was there any confirmation or denial of media reports that President Putin, speaking at the NATO summit in Bucharest, had questioned Ukrainian statehood and threatened to annex the Crimea. It's worth noting that under the current Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership Treaty between Moscow and Kiev, both sides undertake to develop "bilateral relations based on the principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, peaceful conflict resolution, non-use of force or threats of force..."

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