WASHINGTON (AP) - The European allies in NATO expect President Clinton to weigh their reservations about a U.S. national missile defense before he decides whether to begin building it, NATO's top diplomat said Thursday.

``They've accepted the president's assurances that ... the views of the allies will be a crucial ingredient in any decision he makes later this year,'' Lord Robertson, the NATO secretary-general, told reporters.

The Pentagon is developing an anti-missile system - a combination of ground-based interceptor rockets, powerful radars and high-speed computers - capable of shooting down a small number of long-range ballistic missiles aimed at any part of the United States. It would not provide any protection for Europe.

The administration says Clinton will make a decision by fall on whether to begin construction of a radar in Alaska that would be one of the centerpieces of the anti-missile system. Clinton has said he would first consider the project's cost, the probability that it would work in a crisis, its effect on arms control and the seriousness of the missile threat from such ``rogue nations'' as North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Robertson acknowledged that some NATO members, including France and Germany, have publicly aired their concerns about the U.S. plan for an anti-missile system that would defend U.S. territory but not Europe. But Robertson insisted that the issue is not so divisive as to harm relations within the alliance.

Robertson said a recent proposal by Russia to join with Europe in developing missile defenses may be a ploy to divide the European allies from America. But he emphasized that it is too early to know because the Russians have not yet spelled out what kind of anti-missile system they have in mind.

``It has only been outlined in the sketchiest possible form,'' he said.

NATO officials are scheduled to meet with the Russians next week to hear the details.

Defense Secretary William Cohen has said he is concerned that the Russians may be primarily interested in driving a wedge between Washington and its European allies, given the doubts some European leaders already have about the U.S. anti-missile plan.

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