Russian President Vladimir Putin met NATO leaders Friday amid fresh tensions between Moscow and Washington over the future expansion of the military alliance and U.S. moves to install missile defense bases in eastern Europe. Speaking after the meeting with Putin, NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said the atmosphere of the talks had been "constructive" and "frank and open," The Associated Press reported.But he added: "It is true that NATO enlargement is a contentious issue. The minds do not exactly meet, to put it mildly."
On Thursday, NATO members decided not to allow the former Soviet states of Georgia and Ukraine to begin the process towards membership, recognizing strong objections from Moscow.
But in a nod to U.S. President George W. Bush, who had strongly made the case for the two countries to be admitted to the alliance, NATO promised Georgia and Ukraine could join at a later date. Albania and Croatia were also invited to join.
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