ASTANA (Kazakhstan) - US efforts to build closer ties to this energy-rich former Soviet republic are not meant to undermine Russian influence in Central Asia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

'We don't see any of this as a zero-sum game,' she told reporters flying with her to the Kazakh capital from India. US gains need not mean Russian losses, she said on Sunday.

'First of all, Kazakhstan is an independent country. It can have friendships with whomever it wishes,' she said.

'That is, I think, perfectly acceptable in the 21st century, so we don't see and don't accept any notion of a special sphere of influence' for Russia in this region.

Later, at a news conference with Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin, Dr Rice said no one should question Kazakhstan's desire to have good relations with all countries in its region.

'This is not some kind of contest for the affection of Kazakhstan,' Dr Rice said.

Mr Tazhin said his country's relationship with the United States was 'stable' and had 'strategic character.' Kazakh ties with Russia, he said, are 'excellent' and 'politically correct.'

Asked by a reporter whether he considered his country to be in a Russian 'sphere of influence,' Mr Tazhin said no and that he believed such a question was of interest mainly to academics and to journalists.

Dr Rice later met with Prime Minister Karim Masimov and President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's autocratic ruler who has maintained a military alliance and close relations with Russia.

He also has kept a door open to the West and looked to develop new export routes to Europe for Kazakhstan's vast energy resources.

But that balancing act has been in doubt since Russia's invasion of Georgia in August, which threatened to close off the corridor for pipelines around Russia.

In the interview en route to Astana, Dr Rice disclosed that Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Iraq over the weekend for talks with the Iraqi government on planning for the transition as more US forces withdraw and Iraqis take on more responsibilities.

The discussions also covered the remaining obstacles to a security agreement that would govern the US military presence in Iraq beyond December, when the current legal authorities expire, Dr Rice said. Negotiations 'are going along' and are close to being finished, she added.

The Bush administration thought it had secured the deal last summer when negotiators submitted a proposed agreement for higher approval; Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected it and assembled a new set of negotiators.

A key point of disagreement is Washington's insistence that US troops in Iraq remain under US legal jurisdiction indefinitely. The Iraqis want limited jurisdiction. -- AP