During the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008 , American president George W. Bush campaigned for offering a Membership Action Plan ( MAP ) to Georgia and Ukraine . However , Germany and France said that offering MAP to Ukraine and Georgia would be " an unnecessary offence " for Russia . NATO stated that Ukraine and Georgia would be admitted in the alliance and pledged to review the requests for MAP in December 2008 . Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Bucharest during the summit . At the conclusion of the summit on 4 April , Putin said that NATO 's enlargement towards Russia " would be taken in Russia as a direct threat to the security of our country " . Following the Bucharest summit , Russian hostility increased and Russia started to actively prepare for the invasion of Georgia . Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Yuri Baluyevsky said on 11 April that Russia would carry out " steps of a different nature " in addition to military action to block NATO membership of former Soviet republics . General Baluyevsky admitted in 2012 that after President Putin had decided to attack Georgia prior to the May 2008 inauguration of Dmitry Medvedev as president of Russia , a military action was planned and explicit orders were issued in advance before August 2008 . Russia aimed to stop Georgia 's accession to NATO and also to bring about a " regime change "
NATO summit in Bucharest
2008 Bucharest summit
Russo-Georgian War