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Cheney: Georgia To Join NATO

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The Associated Press

Published: September 5, 2008

KIEV, Ukraine - Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday insisted that Georgia will join NATO and backed its attempts to rebuild from its war with Russia, using a trip to former Soviet republics as a show of U.S. support for their pro-Western leaders.

Cheney flew to Kiev from Georgia, where he denounced Russia's "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to redraw the U.S. ally's borders by force.

"Georgia will be in our alliance," Cheney told reporters while standing alongside Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, whose pro-Western government has sought to join NATO despite Russian opposition.

Angry Russian officials have repeatedly said that U.S. military aid was instrumental in emboldening Georgia to try to retake South Ossetia by force on Aug. 7. The attack sparked five days of fighting and resulted in Russian forces driving into South Ossetia and on into Georgia.

Speaking in Moscow, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the foreign affairs committee in the Kremlin-controlled lower house, accused Cheney of trying to forge an "anti-Russian axis."

"It's Cheney who was behind all recent events on the former Soviet turf," Kosachyov said.

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