BRUSSELS, Dec 31: Nato is seeking to seal an agreement with Moscow to allow the military alliance to fly equipment over Russian airspace to Afghanistan, an official said on Wednesday.

“Both sides are already aware of the fact that an air agreement would be desirable,” the Nato official said.

The talks “at many levels” are able to take place now following the end of a four-month freeze the alliance imposed after Moscow sent troops into Georgia.

Envoys from Nato and Russia are set to hold top-level talks next month where the question could be raised.

Moscow agreed in April to allow “non-lethal” Nato supplies to transit Russian territory by land on its way to Afghanistan.

This must be done largely by train and involves obtaining similar transit agreements with other countries in the region such as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, the official said.

“This is part of the Russian-Nato cooperation regarding Afghanistan. We have the land agreement and now of course one important thing is also to have an air transit agreement.” Some individual countries, including Germany, already have such an agreement for supplies to Afghanistan.

The Nato official said there was no timetable for the talks or decision on the precise nature of the supplies which may be involved.

Nato’s relations with Russia are mending slowly after the war in Georgia in August brought tensions to a head.

Moscow’s subsequent decision to recognise the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has become a particularly sensitive issue.

Russia has been angered by Nato’s open-door policy in regard to former Soviet states Georgia and Ukraine.

Alliance leaders have indicated the countries will eventually join the organisation, even if they have for the moment ruled out a fast-track approach.

Russia — and Serbia — have also vehemently opposed international recognition of the declaration of independence from Kosovo, a former Serbian province. Nato heads up a peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Moscow has also threatened to counter the extension into Europe of a US missile shield by renewing its own missile programme.

Nato allies, for their part, have expressed concern about Moscow’s decision to freeze a major Cold War arms treaty.

—AFP