EU-US row shadows Nato defence meet

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg yesterday said he was battling to stop the increasingly bitter row between Europe and the US spilling over into the alliance, warning of "serious disagreements" among member countries.

European countries are at loggerheads with Washington over punishing new US tariffs on steel and aluminium as well as President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord.

Nato defence ministers will meet in Brussels today to approve plans to beef up the alliance's ability to mobilise forces quickly in the event of a crisis, as concern about the threat from Russia shows no sign of abating.

They will also sign off on two new command centres -- one to protect Atlantic shipping lanes, based in Norfolk, Virginia, and another to coordinate troop movements around Europe, located in the southern German city of Ulm.

But the meeting, just five weeks out from a full summit of Nato leaders, looks set to be overshadowed by the spat between European countries and their longtime ally across the Atlantic.

Nato is modernising its command structure and beefing up its defences in response to growing fears about Russia, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Thousands of Nato troops are already stationed on standby in the Baltic states and Poland as deterrent and today defence ministers will give the go-ahead to a new US initiative called "30-30-30-30" or "four 30s".

Under the plan, by 2020 Nato will have 30 batallions, 30 air squadrons and 30 warships ready to be used within 30 days to back up existing rapid response forces.