President Bush has set out an agenda for reviving the NATO military alliance which he insisted was no longer intended as a defence against Russia. Mr. Bush said NATO circle of freedom, as he put it, must be extended to include new members including Ukraine and Georgia, a move that Russia is strongly opposed to. He was speaking in the Romanian capital Bucharest, ahead of a NATO summit.

Tomorrow, NATO will make a historic decision on the admission of three Balkan nations — Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia. This week, our Alliance must also decide how to respond to the requests by Georgia and Ukraine to participate in NATO's Membership Action Plan.

Correspondents say another contentious topic at the summit is expected to be the need to rally support for the NATO force in Afghanistan.