NATO, meanwhile, has also announced plans to resume formal contact with Russia for the first time since Russia’s conflict with Georgia last summer. Clinton said US disagreements with Russia endure.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: ”NATO today agreed to restart the NATO-Russia Council as a mechanism for dialogue on issues both where we disagree, such as in Georgia, as the Secretary-General noted, and a platform for cooperation that is in our interests, like transit to Afghanistan or nonproliferation.”

Clinton also appeared to voice support for continuing the Bush administration’s missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “We happen to believe in the United States that those threats in the future are more likely to come from regimes and terrorist networks than from nation states in the immediate vicinity. Therefore, we want to help Europe be prepared, and that’s why what Poland and the Czech Republic have done sets the stage for what will be strategic decisions going forward.”