WARSAW, Feb 5: Russia must do more to show it is committed to "the basics of democracy" if it wants deeper relations with the West, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday.

The former Soviet specialist, on her first trip abroad as the top US diplomat, departed from Warsaw for Ankara, where she will pay a call on a key ally in the Muslim world and meet her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

"Obviously we have concerns ... it is important that Russia make clear to the world that it is intent on strengthening the rule of law, strengthening the role of an independent judiciary, permitting a free and independent press, of course," Condoleezza Rice told a news conference in Warsaw, during a stopover en route to Turkey.

"These are all the basics of democracy."

Last year, the United States began voicing its concern over what it called Russia's "backsliding", and during a 10-stop, eight-day tour of Europe and the Middle East Ms Rice said she would keep expressing those concerns in hopes of improving ties.

"We really do believe a more democratic foundation in Russia ... will indeed strengthen and underscore and put a real sort of substance into a deepening relationship with the democracies of Europe, and indeed the United States."

In December, parliament approved President Vladimir Putin's plans to scrap gubernatorial elections and allow the president to nominate governors. Mr Putin has also allowed an apparently politically motivated case to proceed against oil major YUKOS.

But Ms Rice also stressed US cooperation with Russia in areas such as counter-terrorism and trade, and said Washington's diplomacy had resolved a clash with Russia over Ukraine.

Late last year, Mr Putin supported the winner of a rigged presidential election in Ukraine, but US pressure helped force a rerun which was eventually won by the West-leaning candidate who had angered Moscow.

Ms Rice cited Ukraine, along with Afghanistan, Georgia and Iraq, as places that were building the institutions of democracy, and said America and Europe should work together in "the great cause of the spread of freedom and liberty".

"What we're hearing from Europe is a desire to move on to the next chapter in the history of this great alliance. That is a chapter that should be devoted to ... the opportunities to try and sustain the momentum toward a Palestinian-Israeli resolution of that long-standing conflict," Ms Rice said.

Poland wants closer transatlantic ties, and Ms Rice thanked the EU newcomer for its "extraordinary contribution" in Iraq, where it has one of the largest non-US troop contingents. She also applauded Poland's role in defusing the Ukraine crisis.

Ms Rice's visit to Turkey underscores her pledge that "now is the time for diplomacy".

Her predecessor Colin Powell, criticized for travelling to allies too little, did not visit Turkey in the build-up to the Iraq invasion.-Reuters