11.   Putin said this week that Russia did not seek NATO membership now.

12.   Putin, who pursues a pro-Western foreign policy, seeks membership in the WTO, which sets and polices world trade rules.

13.   Representatives of human rights groups and the European Union, where Turkey is seeking membership, criticized the ban as antidemocratic.

14.   Roth stressed that former Soviet bloc countries seeking NATO membership must take steps to resolve border disputes.

15.   Since then, Foreign Ministry officials have stopped saying they seek membership in NATO.

16.   The culprits are often pranksters, they said, or pledges seeking membership in a fraternity.

17.   The military rationale for the relationship dissipated after the collapse of the Soviet empire, and many former communist East European states now are seeking membership in the union.

18.   The SS veterans, in staging a recent reunion, are a great embarrassment to the current democratic government seeking membership in the European Union.

19.   Originally sought membership for the Baltics as a group, but now says membership of just one would be a good-faith gesture from the alliance.

20.   Poland is seeking NATO membership and is considering several western offers for modern fighter bombers needed to replace old-fashioned communist-era jets.