NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer met Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin yesterday, resuming high-level political contacts between the alliance and Moscow, which were frozen for four months following the Georgia crisis in August.

Rogozin said the two sides agreed to gradually normalize relations. "We supported Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in his aspiration for opening up our negotiations, our dialogues and restoring our relations," Rogozin told reporters after the meeting.

He said the NATO-Russia Council will hold an informal meeting at ambassadorial level in January.

Rogozin compared his meeting with de Hoop Scheffer in an Italian restaurant near the NATO headquarters to knights clicking their cups to allow wine to spill over each other's cups to ensure that the wine is not poisoned. "We are only at the beginning of our very difficult road toward restoring trust," said Rogozin.

He said it is vital to restore trust that has been lost. "It is easy to break all the pots, but it is difficult to make them one piece again."

NATO foreign ministers decided to suspend high-level contacts with Russia in August, accusing Russia of "disproportionate use of force" in Georgia. In early December, the ministers authorized de Hoop Scheffer to gradually resume political contacts with Moscow.