MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia hopes artificial obstacles for the work of the Russia-NATO Council will be removed soon, but further steps depend on the other side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"I would like to hope that obstacles in the way of resuming the work of the Russia-NATO Council - and they are totally artificial - will be removed soon, and this important structure will resume its activity on the basis of principles agreed during its establishment," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.

He said further plans would be "defined depending on how much our partners are ready in practice to build relations with Russia, hold honest constructive talks on an equal basis taking into account mutual concerns and interests, and ruling out repetitions of the latest provocative steps regarding our country."

Nesterenko said that as yet no date had been proposed for a Russia-NATO Council session.

He said some NATO officials have tried to blame Russia for frustrating a session of the Council at the foreign ministerial level scheduled for May 19, but dismissed the accusations, saying there had been no official confirmation of the date.

The work of the Russia-NATO Council was suspended by the alliance unilaterally in September 2008, after Russia's retaliation to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia in August.

Relations had looked to be recovering earlier this year but took another hit earlier this month with the expulsion of two Russian NATO diplomats from Brussels. Russia responded by evicting two NATO officials from Moscow and pulling out of the NATO-Russia Council session.