KIEV, Ukraine — President Bush is putting all his weight behind Ukraine and Georgia's desire to join NATO, even though Russia is saying "nyet" and the alliance is split.

Bush vowed full support for the bids today despite vehement Russian opposition and French and German objections to allowing the former Soviet states to begin the NATO admission process.

His strong stance sets up a showdown in the trans-Atlantic military alliance, whose leaders will decide this week whether to give Ukraine and Georgia so-called "membership action plans."

It might further complicate U.S.-Russia ties already strained by Moscow's intense resistance to Washington's plans to set up missile defenses in Europe.

But Bush said Russia would not have a veto on what other countries do. He rejected any trade-off between missile defense and NATO membership and pledged to work "as hard as I can" to open NATO's doors to Ukraine and Georgia, saying both are ready and worthy to be welcomed.

BEIJING — The Olympic flame headed to Kazakhstan today to start a monthlong global tour expected to be a magnet for protests against China, even as the communist leadership hoped to bask in international praise.The flame left on a chartered plane after an elaborate kickoff ceremony held under tight security in host city Beijing. It will make 21 stops before returning to mainland China on May 4.Activists in London, Paris and San Francisco have pledged to disrupt the relay to bring attention to causes ranging from Tibetan independence to the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region. But Kazakhstan and then Turkey on Thursday could also be flash points for members of China's Muslim Uighur minority living abroad.The People's Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper, warned in an editorial today that troubles lie ahead in the four months before the Aug. 8-24 games."With the opening of the Games approaching, the burden on our shoulders is heavier and the task tougher," it said. "We must keep a clear head, improving our awareness of the potential dangers, and bravely facing all the difficulties and challenges."But the commentary said China is prepared for the difficulties because "to successfully host the Olympics is the wish shared by 1.3 billion Chinese people."Monday's ceremony to rekindle the Olympic torch went off seamlessly in Beijing's closely guarded Tiananmen Square — with dancers in brightly colored uniforms, flower-toting children and confetti. The flame had been carried from Greece in a lantern aboard an Air China flight.President Hu Jintao presided over the ceremony broadcast to the world on state television. About 5,000 people attended the invitation-only event, though hundreds of seats were left vacant, filled only with plainclothes security agents in black jackets.