State Department Moves to Bridge Relations With Four Countries

Hillary Clinton's State Department is making coordinated moves to try to bridge troubled relations with Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.

The developments to shore up ties with rival superpowers and deter national security threats come as the Obama administration prepares to launch a new military push in Afghanistan and draft a responsible withdrawal plan for Iraq.

Reuters reported Friday that the Obama administration has agreed to review America's plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, provided Russia helps curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The news service quoted a senior U.S. official as Undersecretary of State William Burns was in Moscow to discuss relations between the two countries. The official reportedly said the U.S. would "moderate the pace of development" of the missile defense project if Russia helps stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

Clinton also said Friday that the U.S. would resume suspended military-to-military talks with China.

And she said the United States would be willing to normalize relations with North Korea if Pyongyang agrees to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

She suggested the U.S. could provide energy and economic aid and sign a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War. The 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, and the two Koreas face each other across one of the world's most heavily armed borders.

"If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's long-standing armistice agreements with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs of the North Korean people," Clinton said.

Making her first major policy speech amid Asian press reports that North Korea might be preparing a missile test, Clinton pledged to hold the communist regime to its commitments to give up its nuclear programs in return for international aid and political concessions.

"We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to stability in Northeast Asia: North Korea's nuclear program," she said.

Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to working with North Korea through the framework of six-nation talks that produced the nuclear agreement.

"We believe we have an opportunity to move these discussions forward," she said. "But it is incumbent on North Korea to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric toward South Korea."

Clinton spoke to the Asia Society on the eve of a trip to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China -- her first in her new job.

Plans for a missile defense shield in Europe were originally put in place to deter nations like Iran and North Korea from launching attacks and developing nuclear weapons.

Obama inherited plans to build the system in Poland and the Czech Republic from the Bush administration, but the new administration has equivocated over its enthusiasm for the project, which has stirred protest from the Russians, raising questions about whether the plans for the shield could be used as a bargaining chip.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, while not confirming the details of the administration's plans, said Friday that Clinton is very likely to meet with Russia's foreign minister in Geneva during the first week of March.

He said the U.S. wants to "engage" Russia on the issue of the missile defense.

"The new administration has engaged the Russians anew, listening to their concerns on missile defense. They want to see measures to counter missiles from rogue states. Undersecretary Burns was in Moscow to listen to the Russians," he said.

Another option is to involve Russia more directly in the development of the shield.

The Russian Interfax news agency quoted Burns as saying U.S. officials are "open to the possibility of cooperation, both with Russia and NATO partners, in relation to a new configuration for missile defense which would use the resources that each of us have."

FOX News' Nina Donaghy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.