Dr Kissinger: We have every right to defend Georgia, but why as part of multilateral institution?
“What is Georgia doing in NATO? We have every right to defend it, but why as part of a multilateral institution?” said Henry Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, in an interview with the Economist.
He went on to say that “In the 19th century, Britain might have defended for a strategic reason. But it wouldn’t have brought in everybody else.”
“To Putin, Ukraine membership in NATO was an obsession. So now I’m in the weird position that people say, “He’s changed his mind, now he’s in favour of full membership of Ukraine in NATO.” And my reason for that is twofold. One, Russia is no longer the conventional threat that it used to be. So the challenges of Russia should be considered in a different context. And secondly, we have now armed Ukraine to a point where it will be the best-armed country and with the least strategically experienced leadership in Europe. If the war ends like it probably will, with Russia losing many of its gains, but retaining Sevastopol, we may have a dissatisfied Russia, but also a dissatisfied Ukraine—in other words, a balance of dissatisfaction,” he asserted.
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