NATO's secretary-general hopes that the alliance's foreign ministers will endorse a quick resumption of official contacts with Russia, which have been suspended since the war in Georgia last August, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Alliance spokesman James Appathurai said the issue of re-engaging with Russia will be one of the two main topics at tomorrow's meeting of NATO foreign ministers. It will be the first such conference to be attended by new U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Formal ties between NATO and Russia were suspended following the brief Russo-Georgian war.

NATO accused Moscow of using disproportionate force to eject Georgian forces that had shelled and occupied the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow maintained its military actions were defensive and in response to Georgian aggression.

Despite the angry rhetoric, NATO and Moscow have cooperated closely in other fields - including the opening up of a new supply route for western forces in Afghanistan via Russian territory and in anti-piracy missions off the coast of Somalia.

Appathurai said a resumption of official contacts at ambassadorial level could take place almost immediately, but that arranging a meeting of alliance ministers with their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov would take longer.

Thursday's ministerial meeting will also focus on Afghanistan, where U.S. and alliance troops have been fighting an uphill battle against resurgent Taliban militants.

"Secretary Clinton ... will update the allies on the U.S. review, where it is and where it is going," Appathurai said, referring to the review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan that is currently under way in Washington.

"This will be an important opportunity for an exchange of views as we move closer to the NATO summit (in April)," he said. "We will wish for all allies to sing from the same song-sheet, and this will be an important stage in that process."

The Associated Press, March 4, 2009