The head of Nato today urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage more closely with the alliance to bridge differences over Kosovo and US plans for a missile defence shield.
"As far as the relationship is concerned, Mr president, I see two key words, and those words are investment and engagement," Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at the start of talks with Mr Putin in the Kremlin.
Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
"Investment in the relationship because I think we can do better than we have done . . . engagement because I strongly believe there is no alternative to a good, healthy NATO-Russia relationship," Mr de Hoop Scheffer said.
Russia's ties with leading Nato members have cooled amid rhetoric over issues such as missile defence, Kosovo and accusations that Russia uses its giant energy resources to bring neighbours to heel.
Nato is still viewed with great suspicion in Russia, where officials say expansion eastwards shows that the alliance is being used by the United States and top European powers to counter Russian influence.
Russia is opposed to a US plan, backed by Nato, to locate elements of a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia earlier this year provoked Nato's concern by suspending its compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a move it linked in part to the US shield.
Russian officials have also warned of a confrontation over Kosovo as Western powers push for qualified independence for the Serbian province. Moscow opposes moves towards independence for Kosovo.