Russia’s military walkover in Georgia has deepened Nato divisions as it prepares to find a new way next week of handling the resurgent former superpower.
Washington has called a meeting on Tuesday of Nato foreign ministers, essentially to punish Moscow for what the United States, Britain and, especially, East European countries see as a brutal invasion that reverted to Cold War methods.
Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, said: “There need to be consequences for Moscow’s behaviour.” Relations with Russia, which has had a “partnership” with Nato for more than a decade, would not be the same for years to come, he said.
The trouble is that several big European states — notably France, Germany and Italy — do not see the Russian offensive that way. They partly blame Georgia, a would-be Nato member and a protégé of the United States. As Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, told The Times:
“Russia is a great nation. Look how we have been treating it.”[cowards all. Recommended, if you haven't indigestion and for some reason desire it...]
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