BRUSSELS, March 15, SPA -- NATO is in talks with Russiaon a set of accords for the alliance to use Russian land andairspace to transport troops and equipment to its securityforces in Afghanistan, REUTERS quoted the sources of the alliance as saying on Saturday. The pacts are part of a package of Russian assistance forNATO's 43,000-strong operation in Afghanistan which could beannounced at an alliance summit early next month which PresidentVladimir Putin is due to attend as guest. "Discussions are under way. There is no deal done. We areworking towards an agreement at the Bucharest summit," NATOspokesman James Appathurai said of an April 2-4 meeting in theRomanian capital. "We are negotiating land and air transit agreements plus thepossibility of making more permanent our cooperation oncounter-narcotics training," Appathurai said. NATO and Russia already cooperate in training Afghan andcentral Asian counter-narcotics officials as part of efforts tocontain Afghanistan's huge opium trade. Russia's then-Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said early lastyear that Russia was ready to offer more help in Afghanistan,saying at a NATO meeting in Spain that Moscow had a "vital,visceral interest" in restoring stability to Afghanistan. He noted Russia had already signed transit agreements with anumber of NATO allies and was ready to strike more such deals,to provide unspecified intelligence support and to help get thewar-shattered Afghan economy back on its feet. NATO and Russia have long held talks on boosting militarycooperation but the discussions have often proven difficult andbeen overshadowed by disputes such as Moscow's decision lastyear to freeze its compliance with a European arms treaty, orRussian anger at a planned U.S. missile shield in east Europe. The Bucharest summit is also set to decide on requests byex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia to take part in NATO's MembershipAction Plan (MAP), the forum for preparing aspiring members ofthe alliance for possible entry. Russia is deeply opposed to such a move, about which severalwest European allies, notably Germany, are sceptical. They point to the low level of public support in Ukraine forNATO membership, and Georgia's heavy-handed treatment ofopposition protests late last year, including the imposition ofa state of emergency and closing down of a television station. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/536654