WARSAW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - NATO will continue to expand, but will not ignore the concerns expressed by Russia on this issue, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Thursday.

Russia's relations with NATO have deteriorated over the military alliance's ongoing eastward expansion and more recently its condemnation of Russian military intervention in Georgia following an attack on South Ossetia by Georgian forces last August.

Addressing the meeting of defense ministers from the 26 NATO member states in Poland's Krakow, Scheffer said the alliance needed to continue dialogue with Moscow despite differences in opinions, including within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council.

NATO called Russia's military response to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia "disproportionate" and condemned Moscow's decision in late August to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

In response to NATO's decision to halt cooperation, Russia put on hold a number of programs, including the Partnership for Peace program, a high-ranking visit to Moscow, some joint naval training and NATO visits to Russian ports.

However Russia continued its work with NATO on arms control, cooperation in airspace, and the war in Afghanistan.