Russia`s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sternly warned the West on Thursday that putting Ukraine and Georgia on a track to NATO membership would hurt U.S.-Russian relations badly, Russian news reports said.
According to International Herald Tribune, the alliance is set to consider giving the two former Soviet nations a roadmap to membership, the so-called "membership action plan," at its April 2-4 alliance summit in Bucharest, Romania. Russia has staunchly opposed NATO`s eastward expansion, and Lavrov said Moscow had explicitly warned Washington that the move would seriously hurt bilateral ties.
"We have confirmed to the U.S. that the implementation of these plans will have the gravest consequences for our relations," Lavrov was quoted by Russian news reports as saying.
