U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Russia next week for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the U.S. plan to deploy missile defense system in East Europe, State Department Sean McCormack said Monday.

"There are a lot of issues to talk about in the U.S.-Russia strategic relation, spanning from nuclear nonproliferation to missile defense to the development of democracy in Russia," McCormack said.

Rice is expected to make new efforts to persuade Moscow to accept the missile defense system.

The United States has claimed the missile defense system is aimed against states and groups in the Middle East that are seeking weapons of mass destruction, not against Russia.

The United States plans to base missile interceptors in Poland and radar units in the Czech Republic as part of a project to extend the missile defense system to Europe. Russia has voiced opposition over the plan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow last month to try to persuade Russia to accept the missile defense system. However, the visit failed to assuage Russian opposition to the U.S. plan.