Bush’s support of Ukraine and Georgia’s bid for NATO membership does not give them automatic entry, points out Andrew Kuchins from the Center of Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
He said there is opposition to the move from European NATO partners France and Germany, so the two countries’ agreeing to the Membership Action Plan during the this week’s summit is not guaranteed. And MAP is not membership anyway, Kuchins says. Also the American expert believes that the meeting between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin in Sochi may prove very positive with a number of agreements signed. There is even cautious hope that some sort of consensus may be reached on the anti-missile system in Europe – the biggest stumbling block in relations between Russia and the U.S. However, Kuchins stressed that the word ‘cautious’ is more prevalent here then ‘hope’.