Nato agrees to cautious re-warming of Russia ties

Brussels: Nato agreed on Tuesday to gradually resume contacts with Russia suspended after Moscow's intervention in Georgia, and put off a decision on putting Ukraine and Georgia on formal membership tracks.

Meeting in Brussels, the allies reaffirmed a pledge - which had angered Russia - that former Soviet states Georgia and Ukraine would one day join the alliance and agreed to step up help to them in that process.

But going into her last Nato meeting, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dodged confrontation with allies by dropping previous US resistance to restarting talks with Russia, and reached a compromise in a squabble with Germany over how to manage the entry ambitions of Ukraine and Georgia.

The outcome leaves any real decisions on closer alliance ties with Russia, Georgia and Ukraine to the incoming President-elect Barack Obama.

Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 26 Nato states had asked him to see what political contacts would be possible with Moscow and said the suspended ambassador-level Nato-Russia Council would meet again on an informal basis.

"Allies agreed on what I would qualify as a conditional and graduated reengagement with Russia," he told a news conference.

He stressed though that this did not mean Nato had changed its view that Russia had used "disproportionate" force in invading Georgia in August, or that it was acceptable for Russia to threaten to station missiles near Nato borders.

Rice stressed the decision did not mean a return to "business as usual" with Russia.

EU restarts talks

Russia's envoy to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, said Moscow would wait before reacting to Nato's announcement.

"It is natural that Moscow will analyze the results that we receive today and will receive tomorrow very carefully," he told Interfax news agency. "After that Russia's official reaction will be made public."

Georgian Foreign Minister Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili welcomed the outcome.

"We can very firmly say that from this decision on we are much closer to Nato membership than we have ever been because the main focus of discussions was in which way the alliance can assist Georgia so that we make progress toward membdership," she told reporters.

The Nato decision came hours after the 27-member European Union resumed talks on a broad-ranging partnership pact with Moscow, reflecting European acceptance that any attempt to isolate a key energy partner could damage European interests.

The EU agreed last month that Russia had complied sufficiently with the terms of a Georgia ceasefire to permit this, while keeping the relationship under review.