Brussels, Belgium ? NATO agreed Sunday to begin planning defense measures to aid Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war in Iraq, breaking a monthlong stalemate that had opened the biggest rift in the West since the Cold War.

But European Union leaders faced a bruising summit, with France showing no sign of backing down in its opposition to U.S. plans to force Iraq to disarm.

The NATO alliance of the United States and 18 other nations finally reached agreement late Sunday after France was shut out of talks. The other holdouts in the deadlock, Germany and Belgium, then dropped objections to begin the planning to send military aid to Turkey if it is attacked by neighboring Iraq, NATO officials said.

“Alliance solidarity has prevailed,” NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said. “We have been able collectively to overcome the impasse.”

The United States called the decision a “very big step forward” for the alliance — even without France.

“We have a clear NATO decision to plan for the support for Turkey,” U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns said. “And within several days, we have a clear commitment by all 18 allies that we will deploy AWACS and Patriot systems to Turkey.”

He was referring to the 18 other members besides France.

But there was little sign that the breakthrough at NATO would avert a confrontation today at an emergency EU summit called to find a common position on Iraq and end the deep division in that 15-nation bloc.

After the breakthrough at NATO, France, Germany and Belgium issued a statement balancing their commitment to honor their defense obligations with their desire to disarm Iraq peacefully. The statement said not all alternatives to military force had been “fully exploited.”

Belgium said it hoped the NATO breakthrough would produce agreement at the EU, but there must be a peaceful solution over Iraq.

“We, Belgium, Germany and France, will continue to defend the view that we must have a peaceful solution through the United Nations,” Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told a news conference.

No ‘street fight’

The United States tried Sunday to defuse the trans-Atlantic row, although Washington would not back down on demanding swift action to disarm Iraq. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Washington was not interested in retribution against France and other allies.

“We don’t need to allow this to become a street fight between the United States and France, the United States and Germany,” she said on NBC.

NATO had been stymied for a month over opposition from France, Germany and Belgium to a U.S.-backed plan to begin planning for possible military aid to Turkey in the event of war with Iraq. Turkey, the only NATO state to border Iraq, is a possible launching point for U.S. military action.

Agreement was threatened when Belgium demanded linking any NATO deployment to developments at the U.N. Security Council, but the final statement made no firm commitment.

“We continue to support efforts in the United Nations to find a peaceful solution to the crisis,” the NATO statement said.

The United States wants NATO to send early-warning aircraft, missile defenses and anti-biochemical units to Turkey in case Iraq attacks.

Unity, but no solution

There was no sign of easy agreement at today’s EU meeting, diplomats said, with neither side apparently willing to compromise. France and Germany wanted the EU to back them and insist there was no case for war against Iraq at this time, a position rejected by Britain.

Diplomats predicted the summit would, at best, produce a bland statement of unity without solving the split.

Greece, the current EU president, has warned the group faces a crisis if it fails to agree on a common position on Iraq. But Greek diplomats said they were too uncertain of the outcome to even propose a joint position for discussion.

Paris and Berlin have led the opposition to U.S. demands to swiftly disarm Saddam Hussein. Washington, with strong British support, says Iraq is concealing weapons of mass destruction and not cooperating with a U.N. resolution to disarm.

French opposition

The EU split erupted when the leaders of eight countries — Spain, Portugal, Italy, Britain, Hungary, Poland and Denmark and the Czech Republic — signed a letter supporting the United States. France, caught by surprise, was enraged, seeing it as a direct challenge.

France reiterated that U.N. weapons inspectors can disarm Iraq peacefully and must have more time. French Foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin rejected U.S. and British calls for a second U.N. resolution authorizing action.

“For us, such a resolution is not necessary while inspections continue to advance,” he told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

De Villepin urged Europe to unite on Iraq, suggesting the United States could not alone ensure global security. He also rejected ousting Saddam in a rebuff to Washington and London, who say the Iraqi leader is a threat.

“That is not acceptable, and above all, it’s dangerous,” he was quoted as saying.

The antiwar camp was boosted by protests around the world Saturday, when millions marched against war. That came after U.N. weapons inspectors said Friday that Iraq had shown some signs of improving its cooperation.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the strongest U.S. ally in Europe, needs a second U.N. resolution to swing around a population largely opposed to war. Blair received a boost Sunday when senior ministers urged the divided governing Labor Party to back the premier.

The summit is seen as a crucial test of the EU’s drive to forge a united front on foreign policy and security issues. Failure to work out a common stand on Iraq could exacerbate divisions over the EU’s future, especially the drive by France and Germany to create a power capable of balancing the United States on the world stage.

Also Sunday, Turkey appeared to take a step back from its already lukewarm backing of the United States, with the government saying a Tuesday vote on allowing U.S. troops to base in Turkey for war with Iraq likely will be delayed.

The announcement came after the foreign minister returned from Washington, where he was unable to successfully negotiate an aid package for Ankara against likely economic disruptions should there be war.