AFP - NATO's chief insisted Friday that the military alliance is not the best place to discuss Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's plan for a new European security pact.

Speaking after talks between NATO and Russian foreign ministers, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the broader Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is best adapted for such talks.

"The ministers said they are open to discuss it, but the OSCE remains the primary forum for that discussion," he told reporters, after the treaty was raised by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"The proposal covers all countries in Europe and not all of them are members of NATO, so we think the discussion should take place in a forum that counts all the countries affected by this document," he said.

"There can be no doubt whatsoever that NATO will remain our framework for Euro-Atlantic security," he said, underlining that he had not yet had time to study documents about the plan provided by Russia.

Medvedev unveiled his draft European security treaty on Sunday, saying it would end Cold War mentalities.

He began pushing the treaty in 2008 and intensified efforts after the Russia-Georgia war that August, but most Western countries have paid little attention to the idea.

Many at NATO say it is an attempt to undermine the transatlantic alliance.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "We are studying the proposal carefully, and we welcome the opportunity to raise our concerns and questions in the ongoing OSCE dialogue."

The remarks came after the highest-level meeting between NATO and Russia since the war in Georgia, when the alliance froze talks in the NATO-Russia Council forum.

Ties have recently begun to thaw, despite differences over US and NATO missile shield plans, a series of weapons treaties and the recognition of Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia last year.

At the meeting, the 29 nations agreed to strengthen cooperation, by adopting three key documents on reforming the NATO-Russia Council, a work plan for next year and on a joint review of the threats and challenges they face.

"Now is the time to turn toward practical cooperation in those areas where we can work together," Clinton said.