UPDATE 1-Russia welcomes new U.S. Afghan policy

* Sees new areas of cooperation

* Afghanistan major topic

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW, June 14 (Reuters) - Russia welcomes "increasingly transparent" U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan and sees new areas of cooperation with the West in settling the Afghan conflict, the Kremlin's senior foreign policy adviser said on Sunday.

Afghanistan is expected to become a major topic at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Monday.

The SCO groups Russia, China and the ex-Soviet Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. But leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran, whose states have observer status, will also attend the summit.

"We welcome the increasingly transparent U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan," Sergei Prikhodko told reporters. "The space for cooperation with the West on Afghanistan can be broader."

Russia backed the U.S.-led military operation launched in 2001 to topple Afghanistan's Taliban rulers but has since criticised Washington for its conduct, which Moscow believes contributes to instability in the region.