Britain has plan for Georgia Nato bid - Rice

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed away yesterday from offering Georgia and Ukraine a formal roadmap to join Nato and said Britain had proposed finding other ways to bring them into the alliance.

Nato foreign ministers, including Dr Rice, are expected to discuss Britain's "idea" in Brussels next week, said the top US diplomat. She made clear she would not press for the formal roadmap for the ex-Soviet states to get Nato membership, which is strongly opposed by Russia.

"There is a British idea... that we look at different ways to fulfill the terms of the Bucharest declaration," Dr Rice told reporters, referring to a promise made at a Nato summit in the Romanian capital last April for Georgia and Ukraine to one day join the Western military alliance.

She gave no details about the British proposal but Britain, supportive overall of Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine, has indicated there is no need to stick rigidly to the formal process being suggested by Washington.

The US led a push for Nato to allow in both nations via a so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP), but resistance has been strong from France and Germany, in particular. That opposition has increased since Georgia's brief war with Russia in August.

A MAP is a program of advice and practical support covering political, economic, defense and security cooperation designed to help aspiring countries prepare for membership.

Russia, a key energy supplier to Europe, vehemently opposes membership by Ukraine or Georgia to Nato and many European nations are reluctant to further antagonise Moscow by reviving the MAP issue.

Dr Rice said she did not view MAP as the only route under which the two ex-Soviet states could gain membership and encouraged increased dialogue and activities, for example, via the Nato-Georgia Commission and the Nato-Ukraine Commission.

"Therefore, there does not need to be at this point in time any discussion of MAP," she said.