Bush Backs Georgia's Bid for NATO Membership
布什支持格魯吉亞申請加入北約 

President Bush is backing Georgia's bid to join the NATO alliance. Mr. Bush met in the Oval Office with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili ahead of next month's NATO summit in Romania.

美國總統布什支持格魯吉亞申請加入北約。布什在白宮橢圓形辦公室會見了格魯吉亞總統薩卡什維利。這次會晤正值下個月北約將在羅馬尼亞舉行北約首腦會議之際。

President Bush told President Saakashvili that he will go to the NATO summit in Bucharest ready to tell other heads of state that he supports Georgia for NATO membership.

布什對薩卡什維利說，他將出席北約在布加勒斯特舉行的首腦會談，并準備好要告訴其它國家的領導人他支持格魯吉亞成為北約成員。

"I believe that NATO benefits with a Georgian membership," he said. "I believe Georgia benefits from being a part of NATO."

布什說：“我相信，北約接納格魯吉亞將會受益。我相信格魯吉亞成為北約的成員也會受益。”

Speaking to reporters after their meeting, President Saakashvili thanked the American leader for his support and said the United States and Georgia share a strong diplomatic and military partnership.

在會晤結束后的記者會上，薩卡什維利總統感謝了布什的支持，說美國和格魯吉亞享有堅強的外交和軍事夥伴關系。

"I am very proud that Georgian troops in Iraq are not just present there protecting people but are having successes in doing do," he said. "And certainly this is something that we will stay for generations."

他說：“我很自豪，因為格魯吉亞駐伊拉克部隊不僅駐守和保護那里的民眾，而且做得非常成功。這當然是我們幾代人都會堅持下去的。”

The two leaders also discussed conflict in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Those areas declared independence from the central government in Tbilisi in the early 1990s.

兩國領導人還討論了執意脫離格魯吉亞的阿布哈茲及南奧塞梯的沖突，這些地區于1990年代宣布擺脫笫比利斯的中央政府的統治而獨立。

Georgia accuses Russia of backing the separatists and vows to bring both regions under the control of the central government.

格魯吉亞指責俄羅斯支持分離分子并誓言要把這兩個分離的地區收歸中央政府的管轄之下。

Mr. Bush says he and Mr. Saakashvili discussed how the dispute can be resolved diplomatically.

布什總統說，他和薩卡什維利討論了如何通過外交途經解決這些爭端。

"We talked about the need for there to be peaceful resolutions of conflicts while recognizing the territorial integrity and sovereign borders of Georgia," he said.

布什說：“我們討論了通過和平解決爭端的必要性，同時承認格魯吉亞的主權邊界和領土完整。”

Before his visit to Washington, President Saakashvili met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over Russia's decision last week to lift trade sanctions on Abkhazia.

薩卡什維利總統訪問華盛頓之前會見了聯合國秘書長潘基文，就俄羅斯上星期決定解除對阿布哈茲制裁交換了意見。

Moscow says it no longer feels bound by a 1996 agreement to impose economic penalties against separatist regions in former Soviet states.

莫斯科說，俄羅斯覺得1996年簽署的就從前蘇聯分離出去的地區予以經濟制裁的協議已經不再對俄羅斯有任何約束力了。

Washington says the decision is alarming and could make it easier for Abkhaz separatists to acquire weapons.

華盛頓說，這個決定令人震驚，可能導致阿布哈茲的分離主義分子更容易地獲取武器。