Lavrov: Not all NATO relations frozen

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that despite recent strains, relations between Russia and NATO have not been entirely frozen.

While admitting that Russia's decision to recognize the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations has brought some forms of cooperation with NATO to a halt, Lavrov said in New York at the United Nations General Assembly that others are continuing, RIA Novosti reported.

The most area of continuing cooperation is Afghanistan, he said.

"Afghanistan is the sphere where our interests coincide and where we must continue to cooperate closely," Lavrov told the news agency, pointing out that Russia will continue to respect agreements with Germany and France to allow the transit of supplies for their soldiers in Afghanistan.

"However," he warned, "any attempts to play geopolitical games as a form of punishment for certain incidents that Russia has no control of will not help our cooperation on the entire range of our relations."