U.S. to Propose New Talks With Russia on NATO

WASHINGTON â€”  The Clinton Administration will try to neutralize Russia’s opposition to potential expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by promising this week to open a new dialogue about how Russia could someday be affiliated with the alliance, according to senior U.S. officials.

The effort on NATO responds to Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin’s testy warning last month that allowing former Soviet satellites to join NATO soon could “sow seeds of mistrust� and plunge the region into a new “cold peace.�

Secretary of State Warren Christopher intends to propose a new negotiating track with Russia during a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev.

Washington expects the two ministers only to begin work on the idea of a new negotiating track without reaching any immediate agreement.

“These will be exploratory discussions,� a senior official said, adding that further U.S.-Russian meetings probably will be required before NATO and Russia agree on a yearlong study of how they can achieve a closer relationship. NATO officials responded positively when they were briefed on the initiative 10 days ago by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, several diplomats said.

The new talks Washington has in mind are meant to reinforce the U.S. argument that NATO’s expansion will not occur at Moscow’s expense, a viewpoint Washington has expressed before with little effect. Russia, which considers itself the principal European power, has long maintained that it must have a role in NATO not only equal to but more important than that of its former Warsaw Pact allies.

But Washington and other Western capitals reject any notion that Russia should be accorded the same treatment as East European nations, which fear future Russian expansionism and are scrambling to obtain NATO’s military protection.