Russia Asks Obama To Change Course On Ukraine

Russia on Monday called on incoming U.S. President Barack Obama to end Washington's "anti-Russian" policy of granting swift NATO membership to Ukraine and Georgia. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the policy had destabilised Ukraine and helped to spark last summer's war in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

"I would like to hope that the new people in the White House will learn from the mistakes of their predecessors,"

European states led by Germany and France blocked a U.S. drive at a NATO summit last year to grant Ukraine and Georgia a roadmap to membership. Officials said neither country was ready and that membership would unnecessarily provoke Moscow, which considers the ex-Soviet countries as part of its zone of influence...

[if Obama doesn't immediately signal unambiguous support of Ukraine he virtually guarantees its invasion by Russia]

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