US Secretary of State urges Georgia to join NATO

After the fall of the Soviet Empire, the United States has been doing its best to incorporate the erstwhile Soviet states; Baltic states and others in Eastern Europe into her own 'empire'. Though she has succeeded in getting the Baltic states; Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to her chest, getting those closest to Russia, Georgia and Ukraine has been a major headache.

Russia believes the joining of NATO by any of these two is a complete slap on her face and a mockery of her security and defence posture in her 'sphere of influence'. The US under George Bush promised to send missile defence shield to Poland and Radar to Czech Republic; moves fiercely opposed to by Moscow but the US presses on in her mission to win former Soviet states to her side completely. Russia on her part has gone a step forward to bolster her security.

In a phone conversation on Saturday between John Kerry and Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the US Secretary of State expressed hope that Tbilisi would continue to integrate into the Euro-Atlantic region and eventually become a full member of NATO.

Kerry proposed to hold more talks soon to discuss the development of a strategic partnership between the US and Georgia. The US Secretary of State also expressed condolences to the Georgian people over the death of seven Georgian soldiers in a bomb blast in Afghanistan on June 6.