Brussels - NATO foreign ministers may decide to "hit the re-set button" and restore formal ties with Russia at their meeting in Brussels on Thursday, diplomats said Monday.

The main forum for direct talks, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), was suspended by the alliance in the aftermath of Russia's August invasion of Georgia and Moscow's subsequent recognition of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

But there is now a growing consensus within the 26-member alliance that face-to-face talks with Russia should resume.

NATO diplomats have already held what have been described as "cordial" informal talks with their Russian counterpart, Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin.

And despite the NRC freeze, NATO and Russia are actively cooperating in several areas, including in Afghanistan and on counter-piracy missions.

In December, NATO foreign ministers agreed to proceed with a "phased and measured re-engagement with Russia."

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was due to brief foreign ministers about his views on the issue on Thursday.

Speaking in Krakow on February 20, the NATO chief said that while fundamental disagreements with Russia remained, the alliance should "use the NATO-Russia Council not only as a fair weather institution, but also to discuss exactly these things where we fundamentally disagree."

Thursday's meeting of NATO foreign ministers will be the first to be attended by the new US secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

While in Europe, Clinton is also expected to meet her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva.

US Vice President Joe Biden recently said he believed the time had come to "reset the relationship with Russia and move forward."

But senior US sources at NATO would not confirm Monday whether a formal decision on resuming NRC talks would be taken on Thursday, saying they did not wish to "pre-judge" the outcome of the meeting.

"We need to strive for a constructive partnership with Russia and work together. At the same time, we need to be able to point out and discuss where we have fundamental differences with Russia, which we do," one senior US official in Brussels said. (dpa)