The coming weeks will tell if tensions between the US and Russia, which rose sharply due to the war in Georgia, will complicate international efforts at settling the Iranian and North Korean nuclear crises, a senior White House official said Friday.

National security advisor Stephen Hadley told reporters the two countries have indicated they are willing to keep working together on a number of issues, "and Iran is such an issue."

"We have some opportunities in meetings coming up over the next several weeks that will indicate whether Russia is prepared to cooperate in these areas," he added.

Russia earlier lashed out at a speech this week by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the Georgia conflict, saying she had "grossly distorted" the truth to advance US designs in Russia's backyard.

"This is not the first time that representatives of the US government have grossly distorted the events caused by Georgian aggression against South Ossetia," the foreign ministry said, referring to Rice's speech Thursday.

In a sharply-worded, four-page statement, the ministry said Moscow was surprised neither by the tone nor the content of Rice's address, which it attributed to Washington's support for a "bankrupt" regime in Georgia.