BUCHAREST, Romania — The looming vote tomorrow to enlarge NATO over Russian objections accelerated yesterday into a showdown between the Bush administration and some of its strongest trans-Atlantic allies, with neither side backing down.
President Bush, just days before his final meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as head of state, vowed to counteract Russian influence on the expansion eastward of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Mr. Bush will deliver a speech today here in the NATO summit’s host city calling on the 26 member nations to “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.”
And the White House sounded a defiant note in the face of comments from France that it would oppose the invitation of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO’s membership process.
Russia, whose huge oil output gives it leverage over European customers, has pressured Berlin and Paris to resist NATO’s continued addition of former Soviet blocs and communist countries.
But Mr. Bush, during a stop in Ukraine to meet with President Viktor Yushchenko, said Russia should not be able to stop Ukraine and Georgia from joining the membership action plan (MAP).
“As every nation has told me, Russia will not have a veto over what happens in Bucharest, and I take their word for it. And that’s the right policy to have,” Mr. Bush said, during a press conference in Kiev with Mr. Yushchenko. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to see to it that Ukraine and Georgia are accepted into MAP,” Mr. Bush said.
But French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told a radio interviewer yesterday that “France is not going to give the green light to Ukraine and Georgia.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated her opposition to the Georgia and Ukraine membership bids, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has kept quiet. But instead of softening the Bush administration’s stance in view of the latest comments from the French, White House press secretary Dana Perino hardened the U.S. position. “I saw one of the things that the French foreign minister said today,” she told reporters on board Air Force One as Mr. Bush headed here from Ukraine. “The last time we checked, Russia didn’t get a vote. And this is a NATO discussion, a NATO exercise, and it will be a NATO decision.” Mrs. Perino adamantly rejected the notion that the U.S. push for Ukraine and Georgia has been stymied. Also up for a vote is the addition of Macedonia, Albania and Croatia to NATO. But it’s the issue of Ukraine and Georgia that remains a prickly issue for Mr. Putin, who will address the NATO conference tomorrow. Mr. Putin has threatened to point nuclear missiles at the two former Soviet blocs if they join NATO. Despite all the heated rhetoric, Mr. Bush’s only mention of Russia expected in his speech today will be to emphasize the alliance between Mr. Putin’s government and the West. After traveling to Croatia on Saturday to hopefully celebrate their entrance into NATO, Mr. Bush will fly to Russia and meet with Mr. Putin on Sunday. It is not known yet whether Mr. Putin’s hand-picked successor, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, will also attend the summit. The Bush administration also has been optimistic about the potential for an agreement this weekend with the Russians on a missile-defense system for Eastern Europe. Mr. Bush said yesterday that he is looking forward to meeting with Mr. Putin. “We’ve had a very interesting relationship. I like him,” Mr. Bush said. “He’s a person that has been a strong leader for Russia.”
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