George Robertson: Paper armies not enough

"Paper armies don't solve crises," he said. "If we are going to be able to do another Kosovo, if we are going to bring peace and stability to other parts of Europe... then we have got to have the troops to go quickly."

He told reporters the Kosovo campaign was "an alarm bell also ringing on our weaknesses. And that alarm bell is still ringing."

During the 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia last year, most of the military strength and intelligence came from the United States, even though Europe has spoken of the need to develop military power without the US.

Missile defence

US Defence Secretary William Cohen also had a blunt message, telling his European allies to move faster towards the goals they agreed to at the Nato summit a year ago.

He also briefed his colleagues on US President Bill Clinton's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, particularly on nuclear issues and other military matters.

Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev will be in Brussels on Friday for a meeting of the Nato-Russia Permanent Joint Council.

Nato is hoping he will give more details on Mr Putin's proposal to work with Nato and Europe to develop an anti-missile defence system.