A top U.S. diplomat told Russia Wednesday any redeployment of troops to Eastern Europe was intended to tackle new security threats and in no way directed against Moscow.

Russia, which supports the U.S.-led war on terrorism but opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has reacted coolly to plans to shift military bases into some countries once behind the Iron Curtain and now NATO members or invited to join.

The United States has launched a diplomatic offensive in a dozen European capitals to discuss a new defense policy expected to involve closures of bases in western Europe and reflect a greater NATO focus on the east and south.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman said after talks with Foreign Ministry officials that Russia had a part to play in the post-Cold War defense configuration.

"I tried to emphasize ... that the Cold War is over and that the positions of American forces around the world sometimes reflect the Cold War and not the threats that we face today," he told reporters.

"We face new threats and we have some new opportunities and we consider Russia to be a partner in meeting those threats."

But Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov expressed concern about any proposals to move bases nearer to Russia.

"Any plans to bring NATO's military infrastructure closer to our borders provokes totally understandable anxiety," Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith began consultations Wednesday with Romania and Bulgaria about creation of possible NATO bases on their territory.

Grossman said the diplomats had not discussed specific locations for bases, but they had the opportunity to follow NATO's lead in expanding south and east.

"No final decisions have been made," he said. "What has been decided is that we need to make change ... because if everything remains the same then it seems we are still in a Cold War pasture -- that isn't right."

Diplomats have said Poland, a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, could see the biggest build-up of U.S. forces on its soil if the United States goes ahead with an eastward move.

Poland joined NATO along with the Czech Republic and Hungary in 1999 -- 10 years after the fall of communism in the region. Seven more countries are to join the alliance.

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