NATO Marks New Era in East-West Alignment : Europe: A meeting of defense ministers of 33 nations brings talk of cooperation. Russia indicates it will have its own military forces.

The North Atlantic allies on Wednesday marked a new era in military cooperation with their erstwhile adversaries as defense ministers of the Western alliance met under the NATO symbol for the first time with counterparts from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

The historic meeting of defense chiefs of 33 nations brought Western promises of military aid to the East--and recommendations to initiate joint military exercises for peacekeeping and crisis-management forces.

It also brought what American officials described as the clearest signals to date that Russia now plans to build a military force of its own from the remnants of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ armed forces. That move, they said, is almost certain to speed dissolution of the Commonwealth and complete the chain of events that shattered the East Bloc.

American officials said that in recent discussions, Russian military representatives have said they expect to field a force of roughly 1.2 million troops in the next couple of years, when it appears that the Commonwealth will collapse under the pressure of hostility and mutual suspicions among the 11 former Soviet republics that joined it.

The Russian plan drew restrained praise from U.S. officials, who noted that the proposed force would be less than half the size of the 3-million-strong military that is now under the control of Russia as the Commonwealth’s leader.

The new forces also would be dispersed across the vast republic, they noted, rather than concentrated in strong formations that could pose a threat to Russia’s neighbors. It also would be restructured to reflect defensive military aims, the officials added.

“They’re clearly embarked on a course of action of establishing their own defense ministry,” said a senior Bush Administration official. Speaking of the armed force now planned by Russia, the official added that “it would not have the kind of . . . strike capability” that the Soviet army once maintained.

American officials added that Russia’s decision to field a separate military would lift Moscow’s responsibility to hold the querulous alliance of former Soviet states together. If that is so, officials believe the Commonwealth is doomed to disappear before long.

The final vestige of post-Soviet unity among the republics thus would be destroyed as Russia, like at least five former Soviet republics, goes its own way militarily.

Even as they made assurances to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the former allies that once made up the Warsaw Pact kept up a host of running squabbles:

* Poland bemoaned the continued presence of Soviet soldiers on its soil and openly appealed for help in bolstering its forces against threats from the east.

* Estonia worried aloud about breaches of its borders by nationalist insurgents in neighboring nations and advertised its “urgent need” for light arms, patrol boats and night-vision equipment to strengthen its border patrols.

* Ukraine and Russia traded barbs on the destruction of nuclear weapons and groused about the division of military equipment.

But with the exception of France, which did not attend, the NATO members took both pains and pride in bringing the estranged East Bloc allies together.

NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner, who presided over the unprecedented meeting, declared that NATO’s continued existence and its willingness to help coordinate the East’s military efforts will create an “ambience of security” that will help defuse tensions and instability.