ROMANIA: THE UNITED States is putting pressure on European members of Nato to send more troops to Afghanistan and to lift objections to Ukraine, Georgia and Macedonia joining the alliance, as its biggest summit to date gets under way in Romania, writes Daniel McLaughlin.
President George Bush also said yesterday that he was looking forward to a "heart-to-heart" with President Vladimir Putin when they meet for the last time as heads of state this weekend, even as Russia warned of serious repercussions if Nato continued to expand into former Soviet territory.
Mr Bush joined Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper in urging major European states to commit more troops to the 47,000-strong Nato-led force in Afghanistan and to remove "caveats" which prevent some of them serving in the most hostile areas.
"Whatever the cost, however difficult, we cannot afford it, we must win," Mr Bush said of the battle with a resurgent Taliban and al- Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.
"We expect our Nato allies to shoulder the burden necessary to succeed," he added. "The question nations have to ask is, is it worth it? My answer is absolutely it's worth it."
Canada has urged European allies to send at least 1,000 more troops and drones and helicopters to southern Afghanistan as a condition for extending the deployment of its own 2,500 soldiers, who have suffered a higher proportion of casualties than forces from any other Nato state.
"I am very optimistic that we'll achieve our objectives," Mr Harper said yesterday, even as French prime minister François Fillon dampened hopes that Paris would deploy as many as 1,000 more soldiers to bolster its current contingent of 1,500 personnel.
"We'll see what the French decide, they made no commitment to us or to Nato," Mr Harper added. "Anything France does, it is a victory, a step forward."
As well as being pressed to boost troops numbers in Afghanistan, both France and Germany are under pressure from Washington to lift their opposition to Nato membership for Ukraine and Georgia.
Paris and Berlin say they should not be invited to join now because surveys suggest at least half of Ukrainians are hostile towards Nato, and Georgia is struggling to hold onto breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Both former Soviet republics have accused France and Germany of bowing to Russian threats of diplomatic and economic repercussions if they are offered Nato membership. Moscow is a major energy supplier to European Union states.
"No for Georgia means no because of Russia," said Georgian foreign minister David Bakradze, adding that the summit would show whether "Nato can act based on its own interest, and not on the blackmail of others".
A decision to block Georgia's membership would also embolden Moscow-backed separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and destabilise the wider Caucasus region, he said: "This will be seen by the people living [ there] as a sign that Europe abandons Georgia and Russia remains the only key player there." Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov denounced "this artificial - and completely unnecessary - expansion of Nato" and warned that "it would not go unanswered".
Before the opening dinner of the Nato summit last night, Mr Bush said member states should offer Ukraine and Georgia a "clear path" towards accession.
If Nato did offer them a so- called membership action plan, it would cast a long shadow over Mr Bush's visit to Russia at the weekend, when the US leader will try to convince his Kremlin counterpart that a missile defence system that Washington wants to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic is intended to counter "rogue states" like Iran rather than Russia.
"I'm going to meet with President Putin to make it clear to him the Cold War is over and Russia is not our enemy," Mr Bush said.
"And it's a good chance for me to sit down and have yet another heart-to-heart with him." Mr Bush also confirmed US backing for the Nato membership bids of Croatia, Albanian and Macedonia.
Greece reiterated yesterday, however, that it would veto Macedonia's membership unless it agreed to change its name, which it shares with a Greek province.
"No solution means no invitation," said Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis.