Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- NATO members should consider inviting Russia to join the military alliance as a way to blunt the Kremlin’s challenge to the West, according to former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

While Russia’s dependence on energy and raw materials exports makes it vulnerable, solving global conflicts “requires cooperation” with Moscow, Fischer said today in a commentary published in the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the London-based Guardian newspapers.

“To be sure, this suggestion requires two factors that are currently lacking: first, trans-Atlantic agreement on how to deal with Russia; secondly, a much more united, and therefore stronger, European Union,” Fischer said.

Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, last week halted deliveries of natural gas to Europe via Ukraine, citing a dispute over pricing. In energy matters as elsewhere, Russia exploits any sign of Western weakness and division, Fischer said.

“Moscow apparently wants to use the cold winter to persuade Europeans of the Baltic gas pipeline” known as Nord Stream, which is planned to run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Fischer said.

Yet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin “still doesn’t seem to have understood that an aggressive Russian foreign policy is, and will remain, the best and most effective guarantee of the existence” of the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization, he said.

The West shouldn’t reject Russia’s calls for talks on Europe’s post-Cold War security system because they could “finally answer the key question of Russia’s role in Europe,” Fischer said.

The solution could include an agreement that “the principles and institutions” of Europe’s order remain unchanged. In return, Russia would get a greater role NATO, “including the vista of full membership,” Fischer said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Czuczka in Berlin at aczuczka@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 12, 2009 05:47 EST