MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - In case Georgia and Ukraine join NATO, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will have to take immediate steps in response, because the entire security structure on the former Soviet territory would radically change in this case, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said.
"If Ukraine and Georgia join NATO, the entire security configuration on the former Soviet territory will change dramatically," Bordyuzha told Interfax on Saturday.
"For instance, Ukraine and Georgia currently participate in several projects, including those related to the defense area in the CIS, such as the CIS collective air defense system, in which they take part from time to time," Bordyuzha said.
"Therefore, absolutely different decisions on these projects will have to be made, and, naturally, there will be a response to these countries' accession to the alliance. It will take into account the new status of these states, and the CSTO will take into account the emergence of a new military-political bloc actually near the borders of the CSTO member-states. Certainly, measures, primarily political ones, will be taken in this light," he said.
At the same time, Bordyuzha said it was too early to talk about any particular steps.
"It seems to me there is no need to get ahead of the events. Of course, these issues are being discussed, including in Russia. As you see, this is among the key subjects on the agenda of today's Foreign and Defense Policy Council assembly, but I would not like to talk about concrete measures so far," said Bordyuzha, who is taking part in the Foreign and Defense Policy Council assembly outside Moscow on Saturday.