The US wants to defuse tensions with other Nato member states about when exactly Georgia and Ukraine will become members of the 26-member alliance by focusing on the internal political and security reforms that both countries must accomplish before they can join the organisation.

As she prepares for a two-day meeting of Nato foreign ministers on Tuesday, Condoleeza Rice, US secretary of state, has averted a dispute between member states by saying Washington will not press for the two former Soviet republics to gain immediate entry to the alliance’s Membership Application Plan (Map).