U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said here Saturday that it is time now for America and NATO allies to repair relations with Russia.

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden gives a speech at the 45th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 7, 2009.

“The United States opposes the notion that NATO’s gain means Russia’s loss… It’s time to press the reset button,” said Biden at the 45th Munich Security Conference, which drew world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy from more than 50 countries.

Biden said that Washington and Moscow could deepen cooperation in areas ranging from the fight against terrorism and non-proliferation.

He said both countries should work to revive the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in December this year, stressing that both sides have “special obligations” concerning non-proliferation of weapons around the world.

Meanwhile, he emphasized that the United States and Russia “can keep difference and still work together.”

For example, he said, Washington opposes to independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

In the meantime, he also said his country would continue to develop missile defense to counter “nuclear threats from Iran,” but “will do so with consultation with our NATO allies and with Russia.”

Biden is on his trip abroad since taking office in January, and delivered to the world for the first time the Obama Administration’s foreign and security policy.

The Obama Administration is determined to “set a new tone” in America’s relations with other countries in the world, said Biden.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet