NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's appeal to Russia about the need to review its recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia should be considered "a ritual statement, which does not have any effect," director of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation Sergei Mikheyev told VK. "There have been hundreds of such statements made, including by NATO members, but they have no significance," the expert said.
Mikheyev also said that what the NATO Secretary General has called for "is such a rare thing in world politics, that, in my opinion, it doesn't make much sense even to think that this is possible." The expert stressed that Russia has made its choice and that he doesn't in the "foreseeable future see any opportunities for the Russian leadership to change that. This is unbelievable."
The expert drew attention to the fact that NATO should have thought about Georgia back in 2008, when they used Mikheil Saakashvili in order to check whether the president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev was capable of taking bold decisions. "They have sacrificed Georgia in this big game and now they pretend to really care about Georgia and urge Russia to recall the recognition. NATO has used it in their political games, and now pretends that somehow it is worried about the fate of this country, that's all," Sergey Mikheyev concluded.
