Nato chief seeks defence plan for allies near Russia

Washington: Nato's military commander wants to draw up plans to protect its newer members - many of them ex-Soviet states - after Russia's invasion of Georgia but faces resistance from nations worried about Moscow's response, US defence officials say.

"This becomes politicised very quickly," said one US defence official. He said Nato's supreme allied commander, US General John Craddock, started talks on defence planning with Nato's political leader, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, within the past week.

Meanwhile, the United States has asked Japan and Nato allies who have refused to send troops to Afghanistan to pay the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan army, according to US defence officials.