U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will travel to Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Italy as planned, the White House said Monday, as Hurricane Gustav battered New Orleans, Louisiana. After meeting with President George W. Bush early Monday, “the vice president said his trip is going ahead as planned,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Cheney was scheduled to depart Tuesday for eastern Europe to show support for ally Georgia amid a deepening crisis in Russian relations with the West. The vice president will become the most senior U.S. official to visit Georgia since Russia invaded its smaller neighbor after Tbilisi tried to retake the Moscow-backed separatist region of South Ossetia. Cheney also will visit Ukraine—another former Moscow-controlled, U.S.-allied country feeling pressure from Russia—as well as Georgia neighbor Azerbaijan and Italy, where he will attend an economic forum.
