U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, meets Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 21, 2009. Biden arrived in Ukraine for a three-day working visit. (AP Photo/Olexander Prokopenko/Pool)From Yahoo News/AP:
KIEV, Ukraine – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden rejected the Russian push for a sphere of influence over former Soviet nations, saying as he headed to Georgia on Wednesday that no nation could veto another country's choices.
It has been almost a year since Georgia's war with Russia turned the small nation on the far frontier of Europe into the epicenter of the simmering conflict between Moscow and the West. President Barack Obama's attempt to rebuild relations with Russia has raised concerns among some of Russia's East European neighbors that the U.S. might abandon their interests.
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Update: Biden rejects Russian sphere of influence -- Yahoo News/AP
My Comment: My contacts in Eastern Europe are telling me that many are concerned about the U.S. focus on its relations with Russia. As far as they are concerned, their population base, economy, and strategic importance is equal if not better than what Russia can offer to the U.S.
I tend to agree but on two points. Russia has a nuclear stockpile, and it also has vast energy supplies that make them a strategic partner for now.
But the future will reside in Eastern Europe.