NATO Secretary General George Robertson on Monday warned against any moves by the European Union to duplicate the military role of the Atlantic Alliance

"Any duplication and competition between the European Union and NATO will be deeply unsatisfactory," Robertson told reporters after his arrival in Kiev. "But at the European Council (summit), last Friday, European leaders said that nothing would be done that would conflict with the pre-eminence of NATO," he added. US ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns has warned that the European Union plans — being drawn up as part of negotiations for a new EU constitution — are a "significant threat" to the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Washington is particularly concerned about Britain’s stance on the defence project, after an apparent softening of opposition by London to Franco-German-led plans to beef up the EU’s defence capacity. Meanwhile, NATO ambassadors held fresh talks in Brussels to try to defuse a transatlantic row over EU plans to boost its defence capacity, which have sparked US warnings against undermining the Alliance. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted NATO will remain the "cornerstone" of Europe’s defence policy.