This week's NATO summit in Romania will be Vladimir Putin's last appearance at a top-level international forum before he steps down as president, still pushing to halt NATO's expansion into the stomping grounds of the former Soviet Union. The Kremlin realizes it doesn't have the power to force the West to reverse its recognition of Kosovo's independence or persuade Washington to drop its plan to deploy missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. But Putin has had notable success in blocking NATO membership for its former Soviet neighbors -- Ukraine and Georgia. THREAT FROM MOSCOW
"Georgia's accession into NATO will be seen here as an attempt to trigger a war in the Caucasus, and NATO membership for Ukraine will be interpreted as an effort to foment a conflict with Russia," said Sergei Markov, a Russian parliament member.
Amid a litany of such threats, some NATO members are reluctant to inflame tensions at the summit. On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said admitting the two countries was "not a matter of whether, but when." However, he said the launch of the membership process might be delayed at this week's gathering.
NATO decisions are made by consensus, and there is no hiding the divisions over whether to put Ukraine and Georgia formally on the road to membership. Here's a look at key points of dispute between Russia and NATO:
UKRAINE
The United States backs the NATO membership bid by a new, more democratic Ukraine that emerged from the 2004 Orange Revolution. Putin says that would bring the Western alliance to yet another of Russia's borders, threatening its security. A key pipeline across Ukraine carries Russian gas to Europe; Ukrainian defense plants produce components for Russian nuclear missiles and other weapons, and Ukraine hosts Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
GEORGIA
Another growing democracy that seeks NATO membership, and which also sits on a key East-West petroleum pipeline. Russia says Georgia's bid to join NATO could restart hostilities in its breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia has deployed troops as peacekeepers to both regions and granted citizenship to most of their residents.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Russia opposes U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and Czech Republic, saying they would erode its nuclear deterrent. Moscow says it will study a new U.S. proposal that would allow Russia to closely monitor the facilities, but says the best solution is to dump the plan. The White House raised hopes Monday of achieving a breakthrough this week. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said no deal was in hand yet, but the two leaders could nail it down when they meet Sunday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "We may. We're hopeful," he said.
ARMS CONTROL TREATY IN EUROPE
Russia last fall suspended participation in a Cold War-era arms control pact that limits deployment of aircraft, tanks and other heavy weapons on the continent. Putin says the original treaty, signed in 1990, became obsolete after several former Soviet and satellite states joined NATO. He says Russia is now limited in its ability to respond to threats on its own territory. The West insists that Russia must honor its promise to pull its troops from Georgia and breakaway region of Transdniestria in Moldova before NATO will ratify a revised 1999 treaty.
KOSOVO
Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia, backs Belgrade in opposing Kosovo's independence. Putin says governments that recognized Kosovo's sovereignty violated international law and encouraged separatists around world, including in former Soviet lands.
