"Our conversation began with my saying that, for Ukraine, it was a very long road to the Oval Office," Yushchenko said of his talks with Bush. The two leaders talked about events in Lebanon, where Syria is under pressure to withdraw troops; and Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Belarus, three ex-Soviet states, Bush said. In Kyrgyzstan, President Askar Akayev was ousted after opposition protests. In Moldova, the communist president, Vladimir Voronin, is seeking re-election this week. In Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko is under Western pressure to allow more democratic freedoms. --SPA 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/252144