France eyes return to NATO command

BUCHAREST, Romania, April 3 (UPI) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his nation will decide by the end of the year whether to return to NATO's military command.

"I reaffirm here France's determination to pursue the process of renovating its relations with NATO," Sarkozy said Thursday during the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

France withdrew from NATO's military structure in 1966 in protest over U.S. dominance.

Sarkozy also confirmed that France is sending about 800 more troops to eastern Afghanistan, adding to the 1,430 troops already deployed in that country.

The summit meanwhile was to discuss links with Georgia and Ukraine after NATO rebuffed U.S. wishes and announced it wouldn't offer the two former Soviet republics membership now. France and Germany had opposed the additions.