Georgia's possible membership in NATO will seriously affect Russia's interests and have a negative impact on the situation in the problem-ridden regions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Wednesday.

"The admission of Russia's nearest neighbors to the alliance will seriously affect our political, military and economic interests, and have a negative effect on the fragile situation in the problem-ridden districts," Grushko said in an interview with the Interfax news agency, before the NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer started his visit to Russia.

"Any enlargement of military-political unions entails considerable changes in the sphere of security," Grushko said.

"The experience of previous enlargements shows that countries that enter the alliance try to resolve their problems by various methods, including by placing them within the context of Russia-NATO relations," Grushko said.

"In Georgia's case, all these fears, unfortunately, have received additional confirmation. Steps being taken by NATO to accommodate Tbilisi's needs have been interpreted by the Georgian authorities as an incentive to pursue a confrontational policy toward Russia," he said.

The Georgian authorities took provocative anti-Russian measures as soon as NATO launched its intensive dialogue with Georgia in New York in September, Grushko said.

"It is difficult not to notice that these events are related."

"Instead of making any gestures of encouragement toward Tbilisi, the international community should give its uncompromising assessment of the Georgian leadership's intention to settle the Georgian-Abkhaz and the Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts, (by) using force," Grushko said.

Speaking about upcoming negotiations with de Hoop Scheffer, the deputy foreign minister said it was not the NATO secretary general's first visit to Moscow.

"Plenty of practical steps have been taken to promote the Russia-NATO partnership in areas of mutual interest since the last meeting on June 24, 2005," he said.

However, "there are problems in our relations with NATO, on which we are having a sincere dialogue within the Russia-NATO Council," he said.

"I am speaking about plans to transform and reform the alliance, steps to bring NATO's military infrastructure close to our borders, and other aspects that worry us. All these topics will be high on the agenda of the upcoming talks," Grushko said.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, on a two-day working visit to have talks with Russian officials on cooperation between the bloc and Russia.

Source: Xinhua