I have but one question to ask before answering that question: are the people in NATO who suggest NATO membership for Russia stoned?
During the Cold War, many in NATO were nervous about the NATO pledge to defend distant West Berlin. In the post-Cold War era, many in NATO were nervous about pledging to defend the distant Baltic States that were entering NATO.
Even now, NATO lacks actual military planning to defend new Eastern European members of NATO from (and admittedly unlikely in the near term) Russian invasion.
In what alternate world would NATO develop military plans to defend Russia's Far East from a Chinese attack?
UPDATE: Oh good grief, Madeleine Albright, who was arguably our worst Secretary of State in my lifetime, is in charge of crafting the NATO mission statement:
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was tasked last year to lead the panel drafting a new mission statement, told a gathering of defense officials Sunday Russia has nothing to fear from NATO.We are so screwed.
