By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, March 26 (Reuters) - Failure by NATO to offer Georgia a membership plan at a summit next week would be seen as a victory in Russia and fuel separatist conflicts in the former Soviet state, Georgia's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

David Bakradze said before meeting NATO officials in Brussels he understood some NATO countries were sceptical about offering the Membership Action Plan at the April 2-4 summit in Bucharest but urged them to be firm with Moscow.

"Of course I cannot be confident, because it is a political decision of all 26 member states," he told a news briefing. "But I do hope this decision will be positive."

U.S. President George W. Bush said this month he would urge NATO allies to begin the membership process for Georgia at the summit, but he faces west European resistance in the face of strong Russian opposition.

On Tuesday, Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev maintained pressure on NATO not to grant membership to Georgia, or another former Soviet state, Ukraine, saying this would undermine European security.

Russia sees an extension of the NATO alliance to its borders as an infringement on its sphere of influence. When NATO foreign ministers met earlier this month, 11 west European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Portugal spoke against giving Kiev and Tbilisi membership plans at this time.

Bakradze said a "no" to Georgia would show Moscow it could exercise indirect veto rights over which countries can join NATO and show the success of encouraging so-called frozen conflicts in two Russian-backed breakaway Georgian regions.

"A no in Bucharest will have very, very threatening and negative implications for conflict resolution," he said.

"It will be very clearly seen that this policy of creating problems works...and then we will have zero chances to resolve those conflicts peacefully and it will encourage those in Moscow who think it is better to maintain those conflicts."

TEST CASE

He rejected concerns that granting Georgia a membership plan could inflame relations between Russia and the West. He argued that the period of transition in the Russian presidency between Vladimir Putin and Medvedev presented a "window of opportunity".

"Now it a unique time when there is no longer an old president and not yet the new president, so there is no personality in Russia who can take NATO's enlargement as his personal failure."

Medvedev will be sworn in to succeed Putin in May.

Bakradze said a delay would create more problems in the future.

"Appeasing Russia may bring a very, very short term positive effect, but in the mid-term or long term it will lead to worse results."

Bakradze called it a test case for the alliance.

"Traditionally it was the strongest principle of NATO that NATO is a performance-based organisation and if a country deserves it, there is an open door. The second principle for NATO was no veto right for non-member country."

"It's even more than Georgia, it's even more than Ukraine, it's about NATO itself," he said. (Editing by Keith Weir)

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