Occupation of Ukraine is similar to Georgia’s past, says US expert

A representative of an international advocacy group has compared the turbulent situation in Ukraine with Georgia’s similar past, saying "we were wrong in 2008 to think that Russia would not start a military confrontation”.

The Executive Vice President of the Atlantic Council Damon Wilson has commented about the resemblance of the current developments in Ukraine with the occupation of Georgia’s territories in 2008.

"If you think about what happened in 2008, it’s not as if the Americans were naïve or unaware, we saw indicator after indicator of Russian provocations against Georgia [where they] systematically encroached on the Georgian sovereignty, all the tell-tale signs of something about to happen,” Wilson said.

He noted the USA was expecting Russia’s outrageous behaviour, to some degree, but did not think the country would cross the line and create an outright military confrontation in Ukraine.

”We were wrong in 2008 and I think the important thing today is that the Western policymakers and decision makers in Washington and Brussels realize that what we are facing in Ukraine in 2014 is a real possibility of Russian military incursion into Ukraine, specifically into Crimea,” he said.

Watch the video of his comment below: