Bush arrives in Bucharest for NATO Summit

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-02-2008 09:18

US President George W. Bush arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday afternoon, for an official visit to Romania and to attend the NATO summit.

US President George W. Bush arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday afternoon, for an official visit to Romania and to attend the NATO summit. (CCTV.com)

The summit starts Wednesday and the main issues on the agenda include NATO enlargement, operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

At the summit Bush is expected to urge Washington's NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, to maintain its resolve and finish the fight in the country.

He will participate in a meeting on Afghanistan with NATO leaders, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Bush also wants to maintain the momentum of the alliance's eastward expansion and hopes to ease strains in relations with Russia.

He will keep up efforts to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin, a guest at the NATO summit, that a planned US missile shield based in parts of eastern Europe is not a threat to Moscow, which strongly opposes the project.

Bush has vowed to press Ukraine and Georgia for being allowed to start the process of joining NATO despite resistance from Russia and skepticism from the alliance's European members.

He says Moscow has no right to veto bids by the two ex-Soviet states, and adds there is no link between their ambitions and a planned US missile defense system in Europe.

However, France says it will oppose giving the two countries a "Membership Action Plan" -- a roadmap to joining NATO -- to avoid upsetting the balance of power with Russia. Germany also shares these objections.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei