Thaw in Russian-Polish relations

Mr Sikorski spoke of a 'friendly ambiance'

Russia and Poland have opened a "new chapter" in relations, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said after meeting his Russian counterpart.

The two ministers agreed to a series of talks on issues that have divided the countries in recent years.

Rows over Polish support for US plans for a missile defence shield and a Russian ban on Polish food imports had ratcheted tensions up.

The two men met at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.

"I think we are on the right track," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"We agreed to unblock our dialogue on various levels," Mr Sikorski told reporters.

'Businesslike'

Russia has invited the new Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to visit Moscow early next year, as part of a range of closer bilateral contacts.

Mr Lavrov said relations were on the right track

A Russian deputy foreign minister will also visit Warsaw by the end of the 2008 to explain Moscow's reasons for opposing an American missile defence shield in eastern Europe.

Mr Sikorski said the two countries would also hold a series of talks in coming weeks on resolving the food dispute.

"No dates were cited, but the businesslike and very friendly ambiance of the meeting leads me to hope that in the course of the rich calendar of contacts that we have sketched out that the issue might be resolved," he told reporters.

The BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels says relations have been tense ever since Poland became the biggest former communist country to join the EU and Nato, but turned even worse under the previous Polish government of the nationalist Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

In response to the Russian meat import ban, his government vetoed the launch of talks on a new partnership agreement between the European Union and Russia.