Cheney pushes ties with West
Vice President Dick Cheney appealed to Ukraine’s divided leaders to unite and forge closer links with the West, pledging Washington’s support for the country to join the NATO military alliance.
Cheney was visiting amid a political crisis that has split the ruling coalition and sparked debate about whether the former Soviet republic should draw closer to the West, to Russia, or be neutral.
The visit will probably anger Russia, already irritated by Cheney’s support for Georgia’s bid for NATO membership. Georgia sent troops last month to try to seize the separatist region of South Ossetia, provoking retaliation by Moscow.
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