The top U.S. diplomat stated that there were a number of concerns about Russia's presidential election that should be " investigated and addressed."

"And we also remain concerned about the arrests of peaceful protesters, which occurred again on Monday," she told reporters after meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski at the State Department.

"But the election had a clear winner and we are ready to work with President-elect Putin as he is sworn in and assumes the responsibilities of the presidency," she remarked.

She said Washington will look for ways to enhance cooperation with Russia "on a range of difficult issues" including the Syrian crisis.

Noting that she talked to her Russia counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday and will meet him again in New York next Monday, the secretary stated that "We continue to believe that Russia should join the international community and play a positive role in trying to end the bloodshed and help create the conditions for a peaceful democratic transition."

Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on Feb. 4, which called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy.

Stating that Washington and its NATO allies will continue talks with Russia for an agreement "at some point" over the deployment of missile defense system in Europe, Clinton stressed as well that "Russia has no veto over what we do in NATO."

"Our commitment is to our NATO allies, to our Article 5 collective security obligations, and missile defense is an integral part of that," she said.

Moscow has failed to obtain written and legal guarantees that the U.S. missile shield in Europe will not target Russia. Disputes over the missile system prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to threaten in November to take strong countermeasures, including the deployment of contemporary missile systems in the western and southern sections of Russia.

The missile defense shield, which will be deployed in stages from 2011 until 2020 and involves the deployment of U.S. interceptor missiles and radar in Europe, will be capable of intercepting long-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles.