BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. climate adviser said on Tuesday he believed it was possible, on the eve of a G8 summit, to find a way forward in negotiating a follow-up framework agreement to the Kyoto protocol which expires in 2012.

Speaking a day before leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) meet in Heiligendamm, Germany, the adviser told reporters that Washington's latest climate change plans were not separate from United Nations efforts in the same field.

"Specifically, the issue before us is can we define a process for creating a new framework post-2012 when Kyoto expires? I think the answer is going to be 'yes'," said James Connaughton, a senior climate adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush.

Responding to criticism that Bush's new climate change strategy by-passed the United Nations, he said this was not true.

"It was never anyone's intention to have a separate process. The U.S. is a party to the U.N.'s framework convention on climate change. That is the forum where we would take action together on climate change,"

Washington's proposals "feed into the U.N. process," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host G8 leaders at the Baltic coast resort for more than two days of talks, starting on Wednesday. Talks are expected to touch on climate change and African poverty.

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