More Official Delegations Arrived In Bucharest Wednesday

Among officials expected Wednesday are French president Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

 

The first delegation to arrive Wednesday was that of Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan.

 

The next arrival was that of United States defense secretary Robert Gates.

 

In Copenhagen Tuesday, Gates expressed hope that negotiations with Russia regarding the US anti-missile shield in Europe would lead to positive outcomes.

 

"The Russians are probably never going to like missile defense," Gates said in Copenhagen.

 

"But I think the assurances that we have provided and the mechanisms that we have proposed give them assurance that it is not aimed at them, and my hope is that that will lead to positive outcomes," he added.