U.S. President George W. Bush stopped Tuesday in Kiev on his way to the NATO summit in Romania and declared his support for both Ukraine and Georgia to be allowed to start the process of joining NATO despite alliance’s European members’ skepticism.

Speaking at a news conference with President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush declared that he would request NATO allies in Romania this week to sustain Membership Action Plans (MAP) for the two countries. He also praised Ukraine’s democratic and military reforms.

Bush Administration long lobbied for Ukraine and Georgia to be granted MAP at the Bucharest summit and Russia ferociously opposed to the eastward expansion of NATO. According to BBC News, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin claimed that Ukrainian membership would “entail a deep crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations” as the country would become a “buffer” between Europe and Russia. It appears that French Prime Minister Francois Fillon agrees with Karasin’s statement as he said during a radio interview that he believes “that it is not a good answer to the balance of power within Europe and between Europe and Russia.”

Before President’s Bush arrival, a few hundred protesters shouted anti-NATO slogans in central Kiev. Opinion polls in Ukraine show there is little public support for NATO membership, as only 30 percent of respondents agree joining the alliance.

Bush is due to arrive to NATO’s annual summit where he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. He affirmed that Russia would not have a choice but accept Kiev’s role in NATO. President Yushchenko criticized Moscow’s attempts to stop Ukraine joining the alliance. “I don't want the basic, fundamental principle... of open doors to the alliance to be changed for, excuse me, the veto power of a nation that is not a member of the alliance,” he explained.

President Bush declared that he hoped progress could be made on the missile defense problem when he meets Putin at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. “I'm hopeful we can have some breakthroughs,” he said quoted by Reuters. “Let's see.”