Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. envoy Kurt Campbell met for two hours today at a hotel in Myanmar with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Department said.

Campbell also conferred with Prime Minister Thein Sein and other officials of the military regime in the Southeast Asian nation. The American diplomat told them “that the U.S. is prepared to take steps to improve the bilateral relationship, but it will be a step-by-step process and must be based on reciprocal and concrete efforts by the Burmese government,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington.

Kelly described the visit by Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, as “an exploratory mission” to explain the aims of U.S. policy, including the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners and progress in democratic changes.

Campbell’s trip builds on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s policy announced in September of engaging directly with Myanmar’s military leaders to press for democracy. The policy supplements sanctions imposed on the regime in 1997 and renewed for one year by President Barack Obama in May.

Campbell said he urged the Myanmar government to allow Suu Kyi to meet more often with members of her National League for Democracy party, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edward DeMarco in Washington at edemarco1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 17:09 EST