US President George Bush has expressed confidence that NATO will endorse a missile defence system for Europe.

Speaking of the missile system that Russia has opposed, Mr Bush said he was optimistic he was attending “a very successful summit”.

The summit has been troubled by divisions, most notably opposition from France and Germany to giving Ukraine and Georgia a plan for eventually joining NATO.

President Bush indicated the meeting was very open to the membership question, as any NATO member could oppose it.

Meanwhile, Poland's Defence Minister Bogdan Klich rapped some NATO states for their lack of interest in the deployment of a missile shield in Europe.

He said: 'I don't see sufficient political or financial will in some NATO states to put in place a continental missile system that would complement the US missile shield.'

Mr Klich did not identify the countries he was referring to.

Washington is in talks with Warsaw to install a missile shield consisting of 10 silos on Polish soil and a high-power tracking radar in the neighbouring Czech Republic by 2012.