US President George W. Bush went into his final Nato summit on Wednesday urging his European allies to send more troops to Afghanistan and to set two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine, on a path to membership.
He pressed members of the 26-nation alliance to follow the example of France, Poland and Romania in providing extra troops for Nato's battle against Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan, even though uncertainty reigned over what France would offer.
He faced resistance, led by Germany and France, to offering Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan (MAP) - a gateway to Nato membership opposed by their former Soviet master Moscow. "We expect our Nato allies to shoulder the burden necessary to succeed," Bush said of the Afghan mission after talks with Romanian President Traian Basescu, who is hosting the summit. Bush said the West should reward democratic revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia by giving both the prospect of joining Nato.
"My country's position is clear - Nato should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the Membership Action Plan," he said. France and Germany, backed by several smaller countries, have said Ukraine and Georgia do not meet Nato's criteria and the decision would be an unnecessary provocation to Russia just before President-elect Dmitry Medvedev takes office.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed on arriving in Bucharest that both countries should have a long-term prospect of Nato membership, "but there is one difference with the United States: we believe the time for MAP is not ripe".
Borys Tarasyuk, a former foreign minister in Ukraine, saw problems ahead. "I didn't say I was confident Ukraine will be provided with MAP. There are serious obstacles in the way," he told Reuters.
"It may provide a kind of compromise result," Tarasyuk said of a first late-night session of talks in the Romanian capital. At stake is whether Nato pushes its European borders right up to the frontiers of Russia, with the exception of Belarus, or leaves a strategic buffer zone as the Kremlin wishes.
Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer left the scope, timing and nature of planned expansion vague in a speech to youth leaders from alliance countries. "I expect the summit will open Nato's doors to several new members from south-east Europe," he said, adding the alliance would also strengthen ties with other states in the Balkans and the Euro-Atlantic area, including Ukraine and Georgia.
Bush sought to soothe Russian anger over what Moscow sees as Nato's attempt to encroach on its sphere of influence, saying the Cold War was over and Russia was not the West's enemy. Looking ahead to a weekend summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush said there could be an unprecedented level of strategic co-operation on missile defence and arms control.
To a journalist who said that farewell meeting was headed for a "diplomatic train wreck", the president said: "You call it a diplomatic train wreck ... and I call it an opportunity." The White House later said Bush would also meet Medvedev in Sochi.
Amid blanket security that shut down much of central Bucharest, police broke into a factory in Bucharest that has been rented by a group of anti-Nato protesters and took away 46 suspected activists for identity checks.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pleaded on arrival for fairer "burden sharing" among allies in Afghanistan, where British troops have suffered heavy casualties in fighting the Taliban in the south. Many European allies have restricted their troops to quieter areas in the north and west.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose soldiers have also had heavy losses in the south-east, said he was "very confident" Nato would receive sufficient pledges of extra forces for him to withdraw a threat to pull Canadian forces out.
But diplomats said it was still unclear what French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who last month indicated France was ready to raise its troop levels, would offer at the summit. Another uncertain decision facing the leaders was over Macedonia's candidacy for Nato membership. Greece has threatened to veto Skopje's entry over an unresolved dispute about the former Yugoslav republic's name.
Bush made clear Washington wanted Macedonia, along with Croatia and Albania, to be invited to join this week. But Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni said in Athens there was no time for a last-minute compromise. "We have said that no solution means no invitation," she told reporters.
Merkel sounded gloomy on Macedonia's hopes, saying: "It's going to be very difficult. We'll do everything up to the last minute to overcome this dispute." Diplomats said if Athens did not yield, leaders might try to issue a conditional invitation to Skopje, to be ratified once the name dispute was settled.