Russia warns NATO to back off over Georgia

BRUSSELS, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The Kremlin is threatening to halt cooperation with NATO efforts in Afghanistan if Western powers continue to condemn Russia for its military action on Georgia.

"Future cooperation (in Afghanistan) will depend on the alliance's position in the 'Caucasus crisis,' Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's envoy to NATO, said Wednesday at a news conference.

Concerned by an increase in opium trafficking to Russia, the Kremlin had agreed to let non-lethal materials for NATO troops in Afghanistan pass through Russian territory, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.

Russia is at odds with NATO over the Russian incursion into Georgia last month. Russia insists it was protecting the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgian aggression while NATO forces condemned the action as a violation of Georgia's territorial integrity.

Russia has suspended peacekeeping operations with NATO for at least six months and frozen its participation in NATO's Partnership for Peace program.