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NATO May Consider Russia's Membership Within 20 Years: NATO Chief
NATO Secretary General George Robertson said Sunday that he does not rule out the possibility that Russia's accession to the alliance may be considered within the next two decades.
However, the issue is not on the agenda of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization yet, he told the Russia's RTR television station in Moscow.
Robertson recalled that earlier this year when Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about the chances of Russia joining NATO, Putin replied: "I don't see why not." Robertson said he could give the same answer to the same question.
He declined to comment on Kremlin aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky's statement that Russia may deliver preventive strikes on militant bases in Afghanistan.
The matter is outside the competence of NATO, Robertson said. Still, in any case there must be some way out of the situation so that force would not have to be used, he stressed.
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