After Bush’s strong statement last night, NATO has come out today strong in support of Georgia. The first sign was the cancellation of the NATO-Russia Council meeting, which was initially scheduled at Russia’s request. NATO offered as an excuse the fact that more preparations are needed. However, the US Ambassador to NATO took a clearer line, justifying the cancellation by saying that “there cannot be business as usual with Russia” when Moscow is involved in an open conflict with a NATO-partner state.

Today, Jaap de Hoop Schaeffer came out with a statement saying that NATO is still supporting Georgia’s membership perspective, re-confirming NATO’s statement from the Bucharest Summit. He also declared that putting an end to Russia’s offensive is “important, but not sufficient.”