The United States called the meeting of NATO foreign ministers to review the alliance's worsening relations with Russia following Moscow's military intervention in Georgia.
Allied ministers will also discuss support for a planned international monitoring mission in the region and a package of support to help Georgia rebuild infrastructure damaged in its devastating defeat at the hands of the Russian armed forces.
Washington has denied claims by Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, that it is out to wreck the NATO-Russia Council -- a consultative panel set up in 2002 to improve relations between the former Cold War foes.
"We don't want to destroy the NATO-Russia Council, but Russia's actions have called into question the premise of the NATO-Russia relationship," U.S. Ambassador Kurt Volker said ahead of the talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza is scheduled to hold separate talks with top European Union officials after the NATO meeting Tuesday. How far NATO goes in curtailing relations with Moscow promises to depend on the situation on the ground.
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