Međutim, Gates je isto tako pozvao Makedonce da budu "kreativni koliko mogu i da gledaju unaprijed koliko mogu ... tako da možemo završiti posao s njihovim članstvom u NATO-u na sastanku ministara vanjskih poslova u decembru".
However, Gates also urged the Macedonians to be "as creative as they could and forward-leaning as possible … so we can try and get their NATO membership done at the foreign ministers meeting in December".