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→Beslan massacre
Allegations were even made in Russia that [[the West]] itself was somehow behind the Chechen rebellion, and that the purpose of such support was to weaken Russia, and to drive her out of the [[Caucasus]]. The fact that the Chechens were believed to use as a base the Pankisi gorge in the neighboring [[Republic of Georgia]] - a country which aspired to join Nato, had an extremely pro-American government, and where the US already had a significant military presence - only encouraged such speculation.<ref>[https://archive.fo/nbTeU#selection-2287.575-2333.17 The Chechens' American friends], John Laughland, 8 September 2004.</ref>
Allegations were even made in Russia that [[the West]] itself was somehow behind the Chechen rebellion, and that the purpose of such support was to weaken Russia, and to drive her out of the [[Caucasus]]. The fact that the Chechens were believed to use as a base the Pankisi gorge in the neighboring [[Republic of Georgia]] - a country which aspired to join Nato, had an extremely pro-American government, and where the US already had a significant military presence - only encouraged such speculation.<ref>[https://archive.fo/nbTeU#selection-2287.575-2333.17 The Chechens' American friends], John Laughland, 8 September 2004.</ref>
===Baltic states join NATO===
In 2004 the Baltic states - [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Estonia]] joined NATO, setting up another common border between the Russian Federation and a NATO state. Three years later, at the Munich Security Conference, Putin declared, “We have the right to ask: against whom is this [NATO] expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact? Where are those declarations today? No one even remembers them.”<ref>https://aldeilis.net/english/putins-historical-speech-munich-conference-security-policy-2007/</ref> In 2008 NATO said Ukraine and Georgia would become members. Four other [[Eastern Europe]]an states joined NATO in 2009.
===Crimean Annexation===
===Crimean Annexation===
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