United States Vice President Dick Cheney said that the expansion of NATO would continue despite Moscow's opposition, arguing that Russia should welcome its neighbors' joining an alliance that is not belligerent and whose members are democratic. Commenting on Russia's invasion of Georgia, Cheney said. "Russia has offered no satisfactory justification for the invasion, nor could it do so.
Brutality against the neighbor is simply the latest in a succession of troublesome and unhelpful actions by the Russian government." Russia, he said, was "increasingly antagonistic" in Europe and has endangered its international standing by using energy as "a tool of force and manipulation. In the space of the last 30 days, Russia has violated the sovereignty of a democracy, made and then breached a solemn agreement in a direct affront to the E.U., severely damaged its credibility and global standing and undermined its own relations with the United States and other countries," Cheney said.