Russia would counter Georgia any day

In a recent meeting with a group of journalists, academics and experts in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev said he would have ordered an attack on Georgia regardless of its status with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Georgia has concentrated its efforts to join NATO, claiming that the former Soviet-country needs to be under the alliances' security umbrella to counter potential Russian attacks.

This is while the pro-Western Georgian government provoked a Russian response after Tbilisi launched a military offensive into the de-facto region of South Ossetia in early August.

The conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi claimed the lives of some 2,000 people - many of whom held Russian citizenship.

"What do you think would have happened if Georgia had been granted a NATO membership action plan?" President Medvedev asked.

"I, as President and Commander in Chief, would not wait for a second to take the same steps as I took in August," he added.

Medvedev also vowed to militarily defend Russians wherever they may be in the world.

As the crisis between Russia and the West simmers, Moscow contends that NATO's strategy of expanding eastward could formulate the potential for a fierce conflict in the Caucasus.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Tuesday that the alliance has a strong desire for deeper ties with Georgia in light of the recent conflict in South Ossetia.

"The process of NATO enlargement will continue," said Scheffer.

Following Scheffer's remarks, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili warned Moscow that Tbilisi's path to NATO membership is now 'irreversible'.