NATO seen backing Russia ties to form broad front

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO is expected on Thursday to back a resumption of formal ties with Russia as Washington and its allies seek a broad front in their troubled battle against Afghan militants and other threats.

The Bush administration led NATO's suspension of formal dialogue with Russia after Moscow's incursion into Georgia last August, but President Barack Obama's White House team has made clear it wants to open a new page in relations with the Kremlin.

While stressing that concerns remain over Russian actions, U.S. and NATO officials have emphasised shared interests, including the struggle against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan and elsewhere and concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

A senior U.S. official said NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, including Hillary Clinton on her first visit to Europe as U.S. secretary of state, would likely decide to resume formal ties with Russia.

"I anticipate there will be a meeting of minds ... It won't be a formal decision but it will play out over time," he said, adding that the first step would be resuming decision-making meetings of the joint NATO-Russia Council (NRC).

At the NATO meeting, Clinton will outline progress in Obama's Afghanistan strategy review and ask allies' views on the best way to deal with a worsening Taliban insurgency more than seven years into the international intervention.

Washington is hoping to channel the wave of enthusiasm for Obama in Europe into increased practical assistance from NATO and elsewhere for the Afghan effort.



RUSSIA ALLOWS US SUPPLIES

Russia set the tone for a new start by allowing a supply cargo for U.S. forces in Afghanistan through its territory this week and NATO is keen to expand such cooperation.

"There are clear areas where NATO and Russia need to engage more fully -- on Afghanistan, terrorism and in other areas," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

Russia's Ria Novosti news agency quoted Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, as saying he believed the "period of estrangement" in Russia-NATO relations was "largely behind us".

He said a formal ambassadorial meeting of the NRC this month could lead to one of defence or foreign minsters in May or June.

Clinton, hoping to reverse the sour tone of U.S.-Russia ties, has her first substantial meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, with missile defense and strategic arms control expected to be key topics.

She said en route to Brussels that Washington and NATO wanted dialogue with Russia on a range of issues. "I think in some areas we will find there is great potential for cooperation."

She said Washington wanted to put "on a serious track" talks with Russia on a missile defence shield in Europe which Moscow opposes, and reiterated that the shield was aimed not at Russia but at deterring Iran.

She said the two powers should work together to counter what the West believes are Tehran's plans to build nuclear weapons.

Washington and NATO say they are not burying problems with Moscow and will not recognise Russian spheres of influence, or the independence of Russian-backed breakaway regions in Georgia.

Washington says European countries have a right to seek membership of alliances such as NATO, referring to former Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia, which have been promised eventual alliance membership -- something that has incensed Moscow.

"We are going to have differences," Clinton said. "We will stand our ground and they will stand theirs and we will hope to have some cooperation, if possible." (Editing by Tim Pearce)