Bush to press for Ukraine and Georgia in NATO

By Reuters
April 1, 20088:18 AM PDTUpdated 17 years ago



By Matt Spetalnick
KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush vowed on Tuesday to press for Ukraine and Georgia to be allowed to start the process of joining NATO despite resistance from Russia and scepticism from the alliance's European members.
Bush, in Kiev on his way to his farewell NATO summit in Romania, said Moscow had no right to veto bids by the two ex-Soviet states. There was no link between their ambitions and a planned U.S. missile defence system in Europe, he added.

Gates Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Ukrainian NATO Membership

10.08.2008

Story by Jim Garamone

Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs

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https://platform-cdn.sharethis.com/img/sharethis.svgBy Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

LAKE OHRID, Macedonia - The United States continues to support NATO membership action plans for Ukraine and Georgia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Oct. 8, 2008 following a meeting with Ukraine's defense minister.

Gates met with Yuriy Yekhanurov as part of the South East European Defense Ministerial conference in Lake Ohrid. The two men met in advance of a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Budapest Oct. 9, 2008.

President Bush expressed support for the NATO membership action plans during the alliance's April summit meeting in Bucharest, Romania.

"We reaffirmed the president's pledge in Bucharest of U.S. support for MAP for Ukraine," Gates said after the meeting with Yekhanurov. "I encouraged the Ukrainian government to continue educating their citizens as to the benefits of being in NATO, and also the importance of continuing their efforts toward defense reform and interoperability."

"Our position, in principle, remains unchanged," Gates said.

At the April meeting of NATO heads of state in Bucharest, the alliance welcomed Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and agreed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. The membership action plan is the next step, and that will be discussed at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in December.

Ukraine is the only non-NATO country that participates in every NATO activity, Gates said.
The country also has provided aid and troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week that Germany views the December meeting as "an initial evaluation on the road to MAP."

She said Germany's stance has not changed since the Bucharest summit. Critics of Germany's policy say NATO's failure to invite Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance in April paved the way for Russia's invasion of Georgia in August.

U.S. wants NATO membership plan for Georgia this year

By Reuters
October 9, 20086:11 AM PDTUpdated 16 years ago



BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The United States is pushing NATO to put Georgia on a formal track to alliance membership in December, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday, despite concerns about the country's security after its war with Russia.
NATO has promised to grant both Georgia and Ukraine membership eventually but declined in April to give either a formal membership action plan, known as MAP.