KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after conferring with her aides, said today she will return to the Middle East to work with others on trying to bring an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting, but did not say when.

"I do think it is important that groundwork be laid so I can make the most of whatever time I can spend there," Rice told a news conference here, where she has been attending a conference on Asian issues.

Rice didn't provide a precise time for her return to the Middle East, where diplomats are working to reach a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"I am going to return to the Middle East," said Rice, but at the right time. The United States, adopting a diplomatic stance that has not been embraced by allies, has been insisting that any cease-fire to the violence over the last three weeks must come with conditions.

Otherwise, Rice and other U.S. officials have said repeatedly, they fear just a repetition of the on-again, off-again violence of recent years.

Rice said she will assess when to return to the Middle East. "Let me be very clear. I'm going to return to the Middle East. The question is, when is it right for me to return to the Middle East."

Nearly every U.S. ally has called for a quick truce to end the bloodshed and efforts to smooth needed humanitarian supplies to the Lebanese. Rice agrees, but earlier had reiterated her position that the Israelis and the Lebanese must do the time-consuming work of achieving a sustainable peace plan.

Rice has spent three days dashing to high-stakes meetings in Beirut, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Rome, and then traveled to Malaysia on Thursday for the long-planned conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.