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U.S. President George W. Bush calls for Ukraine and Georgia to be accepted into the NATO alliance and denies any link between the two nations' bids for membership and U.S. plans for a missile defence system. U.S. President George W. Bush vowed on Tuesday (April 1) to press for Ukraine and Georgia to be allowed to start the process of joining NATO despite resistance from Russia and scepticism from the alliance's European members. Bush, in Kiev on his way to his farewell NATO summit in Romania, said Moscow had no right to veto bids by the two ex-Soviet states. There was no link between their ambitions and a planned U.S. missile defence system in Europe, he added. Washington has long lobbied for Ukraine and Georgia to be granted Membership Action Plans (MAP) at the Bucharest summit. Russia strongly opposes the bids on grounds that NATO is intruding on its sphere of influence. And as Bush began talks with Ukraine's pro-Western president, France said it would oppose the bid by the two ex-Soviet states. But Bush underscored his resolve to back the applications. "In Bucharest this week, I will continue to make America's position clear. We support MAP for Ukraine and Georgia. Helping Ukraine move towards NATO membership is in the interest of every member in the alliance and will help advance security and freedom in this region and around the world," Bush told a news conference alongside Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. He dismissed as a "misperception" any trade-off -- shelving support for MAP bids to win agreement to deploy interceptor rockets and a radar in Poland and the Czech Republic. Bush said he had made that clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He hoped proposals to make the missile defence system more transparent would yield progress at his weekend meeting with Putin at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. "I simply believe that, that Ukraine and Georgia should be given MAP, and there is no trade-offs, period. As a matter of fact, I told that to President Putin on my phone call with him recently. I said: 'You just got to know that I am headed to Bucharest, with the idea in mind of getting MAP for Ukraine and Georgia. And you shouldn't fear that Mr President. After all, NATO is a organisation that is peaceful, NATO is a organisation that helps democracies flourish." Bush added. Yushchenko said Ukraine had made a clear choice on NATO. "I can see no other way forward for our nation, for Ukraine. Perhaps I'm speaking emotionally, but I would like to say that our nation and all political forces must go along this pass with greater commitments. And the question of joining MAP for Ukraine is not yet the final goal," he said. Following the news conference, Bush joined Yushchenko and Ukraine PM Yulia Tymoshenko for lunch. But Ukraine's bid to secure a MAP, the first stage in the long process of joining NATO, faces low public support at home as well as resistance in Russia and western Europe. In central Kiev, a few hundred protesters defied a court ban and shouted anti-NATO slogans in Independence Square -- focal point of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" protests that swept Yushchenko to power. For many Ukrainians, joining NATO is not a priority -- only 30 percent of respondents in the ex-Soviet state support it. France and Germany have resisted granting a MAP on the grounds that both states have yet to achieve political stability and that the process would unnecessarily antagonise Russia. Moscow will be watching developments carefully. Officials there say President Vladimir Putin, also attending the NATO summit as a guest, is ready to tell the alliance that Russia wants to work with the West -- but also wants NATO to take full account of its opposition to MAP for both countries.