Ukraine and Isis threat set to dominate talks as Nato summit starts -- Organisers hoped summit would mark new era in Afghanistan but talks are set to focus on eastern Europe, Iraq and Syria --- Nato leaders have descended on the Welsh resort of Celtic Manor for a two-day summit, which formally starts with a meeting about Afghanistan but will be dominated by discussion on Ukraine and the threat of Islamic State (Isis) extremists in Iraq and Syria. -- Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, will brief leaders on Thursday on his agreement with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on the outlines of a peace agreement in Ukraine. --- The organisers had hoped that summit would help mark a new era in Afghanistan at the end of the alliance's combat mission, by welcoming Hamid Karzai's successor as the country's new president. But the result of April's election is still a matter of dispute between the rival candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, amid growing insecurity in the country. -- The failings of Nato's mission in Afghanistan were underlined by more violence on Thursday as Taliban insurgents detonated two truck bombs in the central town of Ghazni, killing 18 people. -- The first item on the formal agenda at the summit is a heads of government meeting on Afghanistan, where leaders will discuss how Nato can support the country after the last troops leave at the end of this year. -- Speaking before the meeting the Nato general secretary, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said it was "vital to see a conclusion to the electoral process in Afghanistan". -- He also tried to put a positive gloss on Nato's campaign. "We will prepare a new chapter in our relationship with Afghanistan, as our combat mission draws to a close," he said. -- Rasmussen added: "We have done what we set out to do. We have denied safe haven to international terrorists. We have built up capable Afghan forces of 350,000 troops and police. So our nations are safer, and Afghanistan is stronger. -- "We have planned a new mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces from next year and it will be launched once we have the legal arrangements in place. - More, Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/04/ukraine-isis-threat-dominate-talks-nato-summit-starts