MOSCOW — The secretary general of NATO held talks at the Kremlin on Wednesday for the first time since relations soured last year, though Russia would not immediately agree to his request that it provide more military assistance in Afghanistan.

The secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, met with the Russian leadership and asked for Russian helicopters and spare parts for the Afghan military, as well as more help in training the Afghan police and combating drug trafficking.

NATO has been seeking to step up its efforts in Afghanistan in the wake of President Obama’s decision to send an additional 30,000 American troops there.

While Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, did not say Wednesday whether he would support the NATO request, he indicated that the two sides were succeeding in improving ties, which were damaged last year over Russia’s war with neighboring Georgia, a Western ally.

“We are reaching a new level in our relations,” Mr. Medvedev said at a meeting with Mr. Rasmussen, who took office in August.

Mr. Rasmussen responded: “It is my priority to develop a true partnership between NATO and Russia. We all know that we do have disagreements in some areas. But despite these difficulties, we have done a lot.”

Mr. Rasmussen also met with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov.

Mr. Lavrov said the Kremlin would closely examine the NATO requests.

Russia is ambivalent toward the NATO mission in Afghanistan, in part because the Soviet Union had a long and costly occupation of the country in the 1980s that ended with a humiliating withdrawal. The Kremlin has concerns about the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, but it also does not want to see American influence spread in Central Asia.

Russia has declined to send troops to take part in the NATO mission, though it has increasingly been willing to offer logistical support. In July, it said it would allow American troops and weaponry to fly through Russian airspace to Afghanistan, although that arrangement has encountered delays.

Mr. Rasmussen told Mr. Putin that Afghanistan was a vital area for the two sides.

“I believe that Afghanistan is a key element of this cooperation, because we are facing the same threats — terrorism and drug trafficking — that have their roots in Afghanistan,” Mr. Rasmussen said. “We have already developed extensive cooperation on this issue, but I’m convinced that we can do even better.”

Mr. Putin appeared to express optimism.

“If Russia and the North Atlantic alliance pool their efforts in areas of common interest, we can achieve good results,” he said.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/europe/17russia.html?pagewanted=print

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