Biden to greet allies in Ukraine, Georgia

The Kremlin, having seen several former communist countries of Eastern Europe enter the Western alliance, strongly opposes more of its own former republics joining. And although the Obama administration has insisted nothing has changed regarding the Georgian and Ukrainian candidacies, there's a widespread perception in the former Soviet bloc that the U.S. has opted to move more slowly.

On Thursday, an open letter whose signatories included such icons of the battle against Soviet domination as Poland's Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic's Vaclav Havel urged the Obama administration not to sacrifice Russia's smaller neighbors for better relations with Moscow.

Ukraine and Georgia have drawn some comfort from Obama's explicit warning to Russia, during this month's Moscow summit, to respect its neighbors' borders. Biden's visit comes 11 months after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over two breakaway Georgian regions.

“This visit will be aimed at cooling the hotheads in Moscow and starting more active work on de-occupying Georgian territory,” said Temuri Yakobashvili, the Georgian government minister in charge of efforts to recover South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Russia has recognized as independent despite international protest.

Biden's national security adviser Tony Blinken reiterated Washington's stance on Georgia's breakaway regions Friday.

“First of all, the United States is not — will not — recognize them as independent states, and we stand firmly for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia,” Blinken said.

Georgian officials are likely to look to Biden for a strong statement about Russia's posture and expanded military presence in both regions.

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