Russia to Join NATO Partnership : Military: After a series of flip-flops, Moscow says it will accept auxiliary status in Western alliance. But it hints at new demands.

Russia said Tuesday that it will join NATO’s new Partnership for Peace program for former East Bloc countries despite its earlier reservations, but it hinted that it still may seek some political concessions in return.

At a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers, Russian defense chief Pavel S. Grachev told reporters that President Boris N. Yeltsin “instructed me that I should make it clear that Russia will join the . . . program.”

He also denied that Russia will demand a formal side agreement providing it with more status than other countries in the program, as Moscow had suggested earlier. “We are not going to set forth any conditions,” he said.

But Western officials continued to be wary, mindful of earlier indications that Moscow would demand that NATO agree to some sort of new protocol that would give Moscow more authority beyond the Partnership for Peace program.

U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry told reporters after Grachev’s news conference that he still does not know precisely what demands Moscow will make. “I don’t know anything more than you heard,” he said.

Grachev’s appearance followed a series of Russian flip-flops over the issue of whether to join the program. Moscow had been expected to apply for membership last month but balked in protest over NATO air strikes in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Russian defense minister is scheduled to provide details today about what demands, if any, Moscow will make.

The issue of Russia’s membership is important because its establishment of a formal relationship with NATO is viewed by the West as an important step in strengthening ties between the two former foes.

Some Western officials fear that if Moscow chooses not to join the program, it could bolster the influence of hard-liners in Russia who want the government to keep the West at arm’s length.

But some analysts believe the issue of special status is mainly symbolic and that Moscow is looking primarily for a political gesture that will help counter complaints by nationalists that post-Cold War Russia is not getting due respect.

Grachev appeared to be working to that end Tuesday when he made a point of declaring that the NATO ministers had been “listening to me carefully” and were “sympathetic” to Russia’s plans.

The Partnership for Peace program was adopted at a NATO summit in January as a way to strengthen ties with former East Bloc countries by giving them a sort of auxiliary status involving consultations and some joint exercises.

As of Tuesday, 18 former Soviet satellites and republics, from Poland to Kazakhstan, had formally joined the program, and the Netherlands has announced that it will hold military exercises with the Poles this fall.

The West’s major objection to providing any special status for the Russians is a fear by some other former East Bloc countries that Moscow will dominate the new program--eventually regaining control over their affairs.

Both Western and former East Bloc countries also are fearful of Moscow’s recent assertions that Russia should have the right to send troops to former Soviet republics, such as Georgia, in which large numbers of Russians live.

Perry and other key NATO ministers made it clear Tuesday that they recognize that Russia’s relationship with NATO is likely to be broader than that of other countries because of its size and the fact that it is a nuclear power.

“Russia and NATO need a solid partnership,” German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe said. “Russia must be treated and perceived to be treated as a great power.”

But Sergio Balanzino, NATO’s deputy secretary general, told reporters that the Western ministers had already decided that Moscow’s membership in the program must adhere to the same rules as do other countries.

Even if Grachev and the ministers reach agreement in principle today, officials say it is unlikely that NATO will act on the application before early June, when NATO’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Istanbul, Turkey.