NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that the alliance was close to a new start in ties with Russia over the Afghan war. He said in an interview that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's attendance at NATO's annual summit next month could see NATO and Russia deepening cooperation on Afghanistan. Mr. Rasmussen said he suggested that Russia provides helicopters for the Afghan army when he visited Moscow last December. Since then Russia has reflected on that and there are now bilateral talks between Russia and the US. NATO officials said, several joint NATO-Russian initiatives on Afghanistan were on the table. They include the contribution of Russian helicopters and crews to train Afghan pilots, possible Russian assistance in training Afghan national security forces, increased co-operation on counter-narcotics and border security, and improved transit and supply routes for NATO forces. Officials said, Russian-made helicopters were better adapted to Afghan conditions than their western equivalents. Russian forces gained considerable experience in flying helicopter gunship during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Russia has been supportive of NATO’s presence in Afghanistan fearing that terrorism may spread to central Asian republics bordering it.