As U.S. pushes NATO growth, Western ties to Russia hang in balance

-Thom Shanker, International Herald Tribune WASHINGTON: When the presidents and prime ministers of every NATO nation met in Bucharest in April, they agreed unanimously that Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics, would someday, without a doubt, enter the Western alliance.

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But in the face of Russian resistance and even some recalcitrance within the alliance, the leaders could not agree to formally invite either Ukraine or Georgia to begin the process of meeting the requirements, reforms and deadlines that are necessary to achieve full alliance membership. It was the diplomatic equivalent of proposing marriage without setting the wedding day. And it was a notable rejection of American policy, which had long sought to begin the formalities of the engagement, known in NATO parlance as a Membership Action Plan.

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