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Georgia is beginning to realize that the West is not coming to the rescue in the Georgian-Russian struggle.

There has been a growing realization inside of Georgia — specifically within the Caucasian country’s government — that Georgian membership in NATO will not be happening anytime soon and that the West is not coming to the rescue in the face of aggressive Russian actions, according to Stratfor sources in Tbilisi. Since this reality — which seems to have dawned on the rest of the world some time ago — has begun sinking in, Tbilisi has been moving toward staving off Russian pushback on the pro-Western country by bowing on some key issues.

Georgia’s hopes were dashed in April, when the country was not extended an invitation to join NATO mainly due to the efforts of France and Germany, which did not want to face Russian anger over the proposed membership of the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine. The issue will return to the table in December, when NATO holds another summit. Even so, the steam behind Georgia’s westward push seems to have run out, with most of its champions in the West turning a deaf ear to Tbilisi’s cries of supposed Russian aggressions.