Any enlargement of the NATO will cause considerable changes in the security field. The case with Georgia is specific owing to geographical closeness to Russia and complication of Caucasian problems. Georgia's joining the NATO will affect Russia's political, military and economic interests and will have a negative impact on the delicate situation in the Caucasus, says the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry over the decision of the NATO Council to start "intense dialogue" with Georgia, reported the Russian MFA press office.

The Russian MFA says that the experience of previous enlargements proves that sometimes the states entering the NATO try to settle their bilateral relations with Russia by including them into the context of the Russia-NATO relations. Thus, for many forces in Russia the Alliance will be associated with the anti-Russian policy of the incumbent Georgian leadership.