VLADIKAVKAZ, November 21 (Itar-Tass) —— The efforts Russia made in the Caucasus in 2008 prevented NATO expansion, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared at a meeting with servicemen of the Southern Military District on Monday.

"If we had given in back in 2008 it would have been a different geopolitical situation now, and a number of countries, which attempted to be dragged into the North Atlantic Alliance, would have been in it already," Medvedev said.