U.S. Panel on Russia Calls for Putting Georgia NATO Bid on Hold

A bipartisan panel of former high-level U.S. diplomats and members of Congress recommended that the Obama administration should try to mend ties with Russia in a number of ways, including through putting NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine on hold.

The 27-member commission, headed by former Senators Chuck Hagel, a Republican, and Gary Hart, a Democrat, said the U.S. administration should accept that neither Ukraine nor Georgia is ready for NATO membership and should “develop options other than NATO membership to demonstrate a commitment to their sovereignty.”

The commission was a joint project of the Washington-based think-tank Nixon Center and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University. Although recognizing the commitments made at NATO’s Bucharest Summit, the report produced by the group – the Right Direction for U.S. Policy toward Russia – reads: “We do not believe that the United States has a compelling security interest in expediting NATO membership for either Ukraine or Georgia at this time.”

“While both are strategically located, their membership in the alliance could decrease rather than increase Europe’s overall security given the realities on the ground in each, especially if it seriously damages relations between NATO, Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia at a time when the United States and NATO face many critical challenges elsewhere,” the report says.

It instead offers “special relationship… short of membership” with these countries that may “serve the same function as membership, and would be a useful way to ensure that those Ukrainians and Georgians seeking to join NATO do not become discouraged.”

According to the Nixon Center commission has shared recommendations with senior officials in the Obama administration, as well as with Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev, during the meeting in Moscow on March 10.

Although acknowledging Russia’s “legitimate interests” in post-Soviet space, the report also notes that it is in the United States’ strategic interest to prevent Russia “from dominating the region bridging Europe, Asia, and the Middle East” and to strongly supporting the independence and sovereignty of countries there.

“Close U.S.-Russian cooperation in Russia’s neighborhood is unlikely, but the United States should avoid zero-sum competition for influence there.” It continues. “Such competition is bound to damage American interests, especially because Russia is located in the region and the United States is not. As a result, attempts to pull countries away from Russia or to block legal Russian activities are unlikely to succeed.”

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)