Nato defence ministers face a tense meeting in Portoroz, Slovenia, today with their Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, after the Western alliance angered Moscow last week by agreeing to deepen co-operation with Georgia.

Nato’s battle with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan and a possible extension of the alliance’s support for African peacekeepers in Darfur are set to dominate a meeting of allied defence ministers this week on Slovenia’s Adriatic coast.

Nato defence ministers will this week consider the future of an alliance which has evolved into a global trouble-shooter whose missions include patrolling Afghanistan, backing African peacekeepers in Sudan and shipping humanitarian relief to the United States.