First top Russia-NATO talks since Georgia war

By Dina Kyriakidou

CORFU, Greece (Reuters) - Russia and NATO hold their first high-level talks this weekend since the war with Georgia and Moscow is due to elaborate on its vision of a new European security structure.

Officials hope Saturday's meeting on the Greek island of Corfu will help mend ties torn when tensions over issues such as the Georgia war and U.S. missile shield plans sank relations between Moscow and the West to a post-Cold War low.

"The NATO-Russia Council will mark the resumption of high-level dialogue between NATO allies and Russia," said a senior U.S. State Department official. "We've been waiting for the Russians to flesh out their ideas."

Foreign ministers of the 56-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will also meet on the Greek holiday isle hoping for a last-minute deal to extend its peace monitoring in Georgia, now blocked by Russia, officials said.

The burst of diplomacy in Corfu is seen as a chance for Russia and the United States to start rebuilding trust, given their expressed commitment to find common ground under the new administration of President Barack Obama.

"(The) aim is to create a different atmosphere and relation between the West and Russia," Greek Foreign Minister and OSCE chair Dora Bakoyanni said on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will miss a chance for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who cancelled her trip due to an arm injury. She will be replaced by Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg.

Bakoyanni said Lavrov would expand on Russia's proposal on "new security architecture" in Europe, which NATO allies appear willing to discuss although they want Moscow to give up what they see as an old "sphere of influence" approach to security.