MOSCOW: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday asked Russia to supply helicopters for the conflict in Afghanistan, after talks aimed at ending Moscow's rift with the transatlantic alliance.

Rasmussen asked Moscow to help NATO efforts in Afghanistan with helicopters and training, as he made the first trip by a NATO chief to Russia since last year's Georgia crisis plunged relations into a Cold War-style chill.

'Today I have invited Russia to strengthen Russia's terms of cooperation in Afghanistan,' the NATO secretary general told reporters in the Kremlin after talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.

Rasmussen said he had presented Russian leaders with a list of ‘concrete proposals’ on helping NATO as it ramps up efforts to put down the Taliban insurgency.

‘I think Russia could contribute in a very concrete way by providing helicopters, helicopter training and spare parts,’ he said. The other proposals involved training Afghan police and fighting drug trafficking, he added.

As NATO steps up its campaign against the Taliban, the alliance is seeking greater help from Russia on Afghanistan, an area where Moscow has been wary of involvement since the debacle of the Soviet invasion.

The Kommersant newspaper, citing an unnamed Russian diplomat, reported that Rasmussen would be seeking to broaden an arrangement that lets NATO ship non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan by railroad through Russia.

The United States and Russia in July agreed a similar deal on sending troops and military equipment to Afghanistan via flights through Russian airspace.

The importance of transit via Russia has grown over the past year as insurgent attacks on military convoys have become more frequent in Pakistan, Afghanistan's neighbor to the south


Failure to do so, he said, 'would be damaging over the long term for Nato.'