NATO's continued enlargement is harmful to the status of the United Nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow Saturday.
"You get the impression that attempts are being made to set up an organization that would be a substitute for the UN. Humankind is unlikely to agree with such architecture of future international relations, and I believe the potential for conflict would only increase," Putin told a joint press conference with Merkel.
Putin said Russia will agree with Ukraine's accession to NATO, "if this is the choice of the Ukrainian people and not of the political elite."
"If the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians do not want their country to join NATO, and the country is being dragged into it by the neck, we cannot consider it a manifestation of democracy," Putin said.
Merkel is the first foreign leader to visit Russia since the country's March 2 presidential election. She would also meet with Russia's President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, which is evidence of the "privileged nature" of Russian-German relations, according to Putin.
"This is not a mere coincidence. It is evidence of the privileged nature of bilateral relations," Putin said.
Source: Xinhua
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