MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's accession to NATO will erect a divide similar to the Berlin Wall between it, and Russia with Belarus, a senior member of Russia's lower house of parliament said Wednesday.
According to Andrei Kokoshin, the chairman of the State Duma committee for CIS and Russian Diaspora Relations, Ukraine's accession to NATO will ensue in "a visa regime that would badly affect tens of millions of people."
"It is utterly absurd in terms of Ukraine's security," Kokoshin said. "Neither Russia nor Belarus, as the main neighbors, pose any threat to Ukraine."
He said Ukraine's accession to NATO would "be nonsense, and a heavy blow at Ukraine's industry... including the defense sector," because "most of the military and civil knowledge-based Ukrainian products are in no demand in Europe or NATO whatsoever."
Kokoshin accused Ukraine of being dragged into NATO "for ideological and political reasons."
"Cynical politicians believe Ukraine can be seceded for good and then our life [in Russia] will be controlled from all sides," he said.
