President George W. Bush’s aides claimed on Thursday that Ukraine and Georgia could take a significant step on the road to joining Nato before he leaves the White House, even though the membership aspirations of both states were largely rebuffed at the alliance’s annual summit.
As they sought to minimise the damage from the most contentious issue discussed at the Bucharest meeting, Mr Bush’s advisers conceded that they had failed in their effort to allow the two former Soviet republics to join immediately Nato’s membership application plan (Map), a key stage in the joining process.
