NATO made a mistake in its assessment of Russia’s military capabilities and in failing to provide Ukraine and Georgia with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2008.
Source: Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
According to him, during the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, the organization agreed that Ukraine and Georgia would become members of the Alliance, but could not agree to provide the two countries with a MAP in the Alliance.
“And this split within NATO sent the wrong signal to Putin, who attacked Georgia a few months later in August 2008,” he said.
The second mistake, according to the former NATO Secretary-General, was a weak reaction to Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, when “soft” sanctions were imposed. It also gave the Russian president the impression that he “can continue to seize land by force at almost no cost.”
“Despite huge investments in military equipment and the restoration of old Soviet bases, we see a very weak Russian army. It remains to be seen why this is so. I think one of the reasons may be corruption. But another miscalculation is that we underestimated the brutality and ambition of President Putin.”
See also: NATO Parliamentary Assembly calls on Allied governments to help promote Ukraine to the Alliance
