Bush sets out agenda for final NATO summit

US president, George W Bush is preparing for his farewell NATO summit in a bid to salvage his international reputation..

In his keynote pre-summit speech in Bucharest he will defend the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and try to push for the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance. Some elements of NATO have kept their troops away from regions where there is intense fighting in Afghanistan and accused Bush of being distracted by the conflict in Iraq. He is expected to defend the 'surge' as having made 'significant' progress. However, the chances of significant US troop withdrawals have been diminished by the recent fighting between Iraqi government forces and Shia millitias Bush is also expected to offer an olive branch to Russia after relations between the two countries have cooled significantly due to Russian hostility to US plans for a missile defence program based partially in Poland and the Czech Republic. Bush will fly to the Black Sea result of Sochi after the summit for talks with his opposite number Vladimir Putin who is departing the Presidential scene in May. One possible trade-off that has been mooted is the acceptance of the US plans by Russia in return for a slowing down of the progression of Ukraine and Georgia's bids for NATO membership.