US Senator Hillary Clinton questioned Tuesday Washington's decision to freeze a much vaunted US-Russian civilian nuclear pact, saying the move might not be in Washington's interest.

US President George W. Bush decided on Monday to pull from congressional consideration the agreement in the latest effort by the administration to convey its displeasure with Russia over its military actions in Georgia.

But Clinton, speaking at a congressional hearing on the Georgian conflict, emphasized that it was critical for Washington to maintain a dialogue and not isolate the former Cold War rival.

"I am somewhat troubled by the withdrawal from the non-proliferation efforts that we are engaged in," she said.

"I think we ought to be able to hold competing thoughts in our mind at the same time -- Is Russia more aggressive, are they more intent upon pursuing their own interests as they define them territorially, economically politically?

"Of course they are. I don't know why anybody is surprised by that," she said, replying to her own question.

Clinton, who was beat out by Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic party's nominee in the US presidential race, said, "Rather than seeking to isolate Russia, which I think is not a smart proposal, we should be much more strategic.

"And I don't know whether it is our interest for the administration to withdraw the non-proliferation agreement that you had negotiated," she told Bush administration officials at the hearing.

"So I hope that we can take this opportunity to really think deeply about what deterrence in the 21st century means, what our geopolitical interests are," she said.

Clinton also called for a commission to be established to determine, among other things, the circumstances under which the Russian-Georgian conflict occurred and to complement an international commission being called for by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"I believe that the administration will be served to create this US commission, which then could cooperate with the international commission ... to in the first place determine the actual facts because there is a dispute about the facts, which may or may not be real."

She added that the panel was critical to bridge the transition to a new president from Bush, who leaves office in January.

She said she would propose legislation to establish the US commission if the Bush administration did not accept her plan.