Denying Georgia and Ukraine the right to move towards Nato membership this week would amount to appeasement of Russia, according to Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s president, who added that such a move would grant Moscow effective veto power over membership of the alliance.

The decision over whether to grant the two former Soviet republics membership action plans (MAPs) – the final step before becoming an alliance member – heads the agenda of the Nato summit in Bucharest that begins on Wednesday.