By THOM SHANKER and HELENE COOPER


WASHINGTON - After rebuffing the Bush administration on a number of fronts, European governments are signaling that they may be more willing to engage with the incoming Obama administration on a variety of stalled issues, including strengthening sanctions against Iran and taking in prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

But European diplomats also say they will push President-elect Barack Obama to soothe Russian anger over plans to establish missile defense bases in Europe. And American officials say that the Obama administration is certain to press countries to fulfill, or even increase, pledges for personnel and equipment for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, long a point of tension among allies.

“There are expectations across Europe that the United States will be asking more,”one senior American official said.“The question is whether decisive amounts will come.”

America’s allies may be more willing to help out Mr.Obama on Iran - providing he makes good on his promise to allow his administration to engage directly with Iranian officials without preconditions, one European diplomat said.

The United States, along with Europe, Russia and China, has been trying to get Iran to abandon its nuclear program through a mixture of economic sanctions and incentives, with no success so far. Bush administration officials have complained that part of the problem has been that Germany, Russia and China in particular have been unwilling to impose punitive sanctions against Iran.

But those countries might be more willing to toughen the sanctions against Iran if Mr.Obama“softens the atmosphere,”the diplomat said, by talking directly with Iranian officials - a change that European negotiators have long pushed for.“It would be easier to make the case then that we are trying everything,”the European diplomat said.

In exchange, America’s allies are certain to expect a certain quid pro quo from the Obama administration, in particular on missile defense plans, according to European diplomats.

The Kremlin has responded with outrage to the Bush administration’s plans to place two American missile defense bases in Europe, one in Poland and one in the Czech Republic, and senior Russian generals have even threatened military retaliation against NATO members.

Alarmed by the rising tension, European diplomats say they will ask the Obama administration to take a more conciliatory line toward Moscow.

While Mr.Obama has not stated his specific policy plans on missile defense, he has routinely expressed great skepticism over financing the system until its abilities have been proved.

On the war in Afghanistan, however, Mr.Obama has been outspoken in pushing for a bigger military effort against the Taliban. A particularly clear signal was sent by his decision to keep Defense Secretary Robert M.Gates, who has called for more emphasis on Afghanistan.

Another issue that may be back on the table is resettling detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Though there is still not consensus among European governments, several, led by Germany and Portugal, have said that they will consider taking in detainees if Mr.Obama follows through on his promise to close the Guantanamo prison.

Such a move would remove a major stumbling block to closing the camp and would represent a reversal on the part of European allies who have rejected requests by President Bush to resettle detainees.

Thomas Steg, a spokesman for the German government, said that such a deal would hinge on Mr.Obama’s closing the military prison, and that even then,“if we begin to review such closure plans and take a stance, then it can only be in a European context based on a discussion with all member states.”

The French Foreign Ministry has also called for a common European Union policy on how to deal with the Guantanamo prisoners, and some European diplomats have said they will begin working toward such a plan.

European diplomats said privately that their willingness to help Mr.Obama on Guantanamo went beyond a honeymoon strategy. Some say that helping to re-establish the camp’s prisoners would allow their countries to re-establish credibility with their Muslim populations at home.