From Times Online:In a week’s time, Nato is going to rebuff Georgia and Ukraine’s hopes of joining the alliance. How should its 26 members handle this to avoid giving Russia the appearance of victory?
Difficult. Foreign ministers are looking for face-savers before the gathering on December 2 in Brussels. They have a messy package of compensations that are certainly not worthless, but stop a long way short of a plan for joining.
But the dilemma looks easier than in April, when France and Germany blocked the US drive to let Georgia and Ukraine in. The two candidate countries have helped by disqualifying themselves, in different ways, from any real chance of joining for a long time. Georgia has done that by its impetuous decision to take on Russia over its two breakaway provinces. The details that have emerged about the ignition of the conflict are hotly disputed, but undermine some of the Georgian claim to have been merely the passive victim of Russian aggression (although they also support its accusations of Russian provocation, and of its detailed preparation for the move). Ukraine is out of contention because of the collapse of its Government and the deep division of its people about whether they want to side with the West or Russia.
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My Comment: In this game of chicken, NATO blinked.