BUCHAREST, Romania - President Bush renewed urgent calls Wednesday for NATO nations to allow Ukraine and Georgia to start the admission process over Russian objections and to counter Osama bin Laden's latest threats to Europe by stepping up their efforts in Afghanistan.

Hoping to set the stage for a summit of leaders from the trans-Atlantic alliance here this week, Bush also said that he remained committed to building a U.S. missile defense system in Europe fiercely opposed by Moscow and that the United States would not endanger Iraq with precipitous U.S. troop withdrawals.

On the eve of his last NATO summit and anticipating a tense showdown over NATO expansion, Bush lobbied fellow leaders.

He argued that the alliance should be open to all European democracies, for now the former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia but also others in the future. Arguing against the misgivings from France and Germany that opening the process to Ukraine and Georgia could overly harm relations with Moscow, a needed energy supplier, Bush said a larger NATO is not a threat to Russia.

"We must make clear that NATO welcomes the aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine for membership in NATO and offers them a clear path forward toward that goal," the president said. "NATO membership must remain open to all of Europe's democracies that seek it, and are ready to share in the responsibilities of NATO membership."

But Russia is vehemently against extending NATO closer to its borders and has threatened to target Ukraine and Georgia with missiles if the plans go ahead. With nine ex-Soviet bloc countries already in the alliance, Moscow is sensitive to any further loss of influence in the former Soviet sphere, especially in places like Ukraine and Georgia that were at the heart of the one-time superpower.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded colorfully to Bush's address, calling the proposed expansion "artificial â?? and completely unnecessary" to today's anti-terror battles.

"What's happening will not (go) unanswered, I assure you," he said before the State Duma in Moscow. But we will respond to this pragmatically, not like a small child in school, who is offended by someone and slams the door and runs crying from the classroom."
Bush pushes for NATO expansion - Yahoo! News

Must be hard for the Russian leader see old pieces of the empire go to NATO. Considering their past relations with the Ukraine....I'd imagine this is VERY tough to swallow.

Have a good one!:s4:
Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on . Bush pushes for NATO expansion BUCHAREST, Romania - President Bush renewed urgent calls Wednesday for NATO nations to allow Ukraine and Georgia to start the admission process over Russian objections and to counter Osama bin Laden's latest threats to Europe by stepping up their efforts in Afghanistan. Hoping to set the stage for a summit of leaders from the trans-Atlantic alliance here this week, Bush also said that he remained committed to building a U.S. missile defense system in Europe fiercely opposed by Moscow and Rating: 5