"He's fulfilling a campaign pledge. I fully understand that," Bush told a news conference with Yushchenko, whose scarred, gray face was evidence of dioxin poisoning he attributes to an assassination attempt last year. Yushchenko has begun withdrawing Ukraine's 1,600 troops from Iraq and the pullout is expected to be complete by fall, fulfilling a campaign pledge made because the deployment was unpopular with Ukrainians. Yushchenko said Ukraine was still committed to helping retrain Iraqi security forces. Getting Iraqis trained to carry out their own security is the main obstacle holding up a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The Ukrainian leader expressed interest in his country joining NATO. Ukraine was run by Russia for 300 years before independence from Soviet rule. NATO MEMBERSHIP 'IMPORTANT' "I'm a supporter of the idea of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO. I think it's important," Bush said, but added that "it's not a given" because Ukraine would have to satisfy the requirements for joining the trans-Atlantic alliance. --More 2323 Local Time 2023 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/252142