CORFU, Greece: NATO and Russia have agreed to resume military ties in their first high-level meeting since Russia's war with Georgia disrupted their relations 10 months ago.

NATO's outgoing Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced on Saturday that the so-called NATO-Russia Council (NRC), a panel set up in 2002 to improve ties between the former Cold War rivals, was operational again.

"It was my ambition to leave to my successor an NRC that is up and running," said de Hoop Scheffer, whose term as secretary-general ends Aug 1.