Biden to greet eager allies in Ukraine and Georgia

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine — Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Georgia and Ukraine starting Monday, meeting leaders eager for further reassurance that Washington still supports their joining NATO and that its effort to warm relations with Russia won't come at their expense.

The Kremlin, having seen several former communist countries of Eastern Europe enter the Western alliance, strongly opposes more of its own former republics joining. And although the Obama administration has insisted nothing has changed regarding the Georgian and Ukrainian candidacies, there's a widespread perception in the former Soviet bloc that the U.S. has opted to move more slowly.

On Thursday, an open letter whose signatories included such icons of the battle against Soviet domination as Poland's Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic's Vaclav Havel urged the Obama administration not to sacrifice Russia's smaller neighbors for better relations with Moscow.

Ukraine and Georgia have drawn some comfort from Obama's explicit warning to Russia, during this month's Moscow summit, to respect its neighbors' borders. Biden's visit comes 11 months after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over two breakaway Georgian regions.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hqXOoE9R1Jx7cND_iBZZVlp0v0zwD99HI0SG3

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snip

Last year's war caused some Western governments to question the wisdom of expanding NATO eastward because, had Georgia been a member then, NATO would have had to respond militarily.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Unless Georgia's next elections are bent

like the last ones then Saakashvili probably won't be returned and it don't follow they would then want to join Nato.