10/08/09
(RTTNews) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin a three-day visit to Russia Monday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described it as an important step in moving the Russia-U.S. partnership forward after a summit in July of the presidents of the two countries in Moscow built a strong base.
Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as coordinators of the Russian-American presidential commission, will discuss "aspects of its structure and effectiveness" and to "outline the schedule for bilateral contacts," according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko.
A key item on the agenda is another round of talks by the two sides on replacing the cold war-era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I).
United States and Russia have held seven rounds of negotiations so far, aimed at signing a follow-up treaty on nuclear arms limitation.
START I, expiring at the year-end, places a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on each side. The Moscow understanding calls for reducing nuclear warheads held by each country to between 1,500 and 1,675 by the end of 2012.
Dropping of Washington's European missile defense plan was a major condition by Moscow to consider major cuts to its nuclear arsenal.
The top diplomats will also discuss Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, and the Middle East peace process.
Clinton's visit will be preceded by consultations between Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. under secretary of state Ellen Tauscher on missile defense.
07.03.2009
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both got a good laugh out of the ''overload'' button that Clinton offered up.
After talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has hailed a "fresh start" in relations between Moscow and Washington and predicted that the two sides would complete a new strategic arms agreement by the end of the year.The much-anticipated March 6 meeting in Geneva, part of Clinton's whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, is widely seen as the first step in a "reset" in U.S.-Russian relations that Vice President Joseph Biden called for in a speech in Munich in February."We think this is a fresh start not only to improve our bilateral relationship but to lead the world in important areas, particularly with respect to nuclear weapons and nuclear security," Clinton told a joint press conference with Lavrov after the two met at a luxury hotel in Geneva.
Lavrov also expressed confidence that the two sides would make progress on arms control and on controversial U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe, one of the key flash points as relations deteriorated under former U.S. President George W. Bush."I'm sure we can find common ground, which could even benefit our strategic relations, on the problems both of strategic offensive weapons and missile defense," Lavrov said.
The current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) expires in December and Russia has long sought a new pact. Clinton said she expects U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to instruct negotiators in the coming weeks to complete an arms accord to replace the existing START treaty, which went into effect in 1991 and is due to expire on December 31.
"We intend to have an agreement by the end of the year," Clinton said. "This is of the highest priority to our governments. I believe we will be instructed by both of our presidents to make sure we do have an agreement, and we're going to get to work immediately."Lavrov, who has called the current arms pact "obsolete," also said he expects a deal to be completed by year's end.
'Reset Button' In an attempt to break the ice with Lavrov, Clinton handed him a makeshift "reset" button wrapped in a ribbon at the start of their meeting. Laughing, she told the foreign minister that "we want to reset our relationship" and "we will do it together."Lavrov promised to keep the button on his desk, but pointed out that the Russian word written on it, "peregruzka," meant "overload" -- not "reset."
At the news conference after the talks, Clinton made light of the error, but added that it was nonetheless appropriate."We are resetting [our relationship] and, because we are resetting, the minister and I have an overload of work," Clinton said. "This is one of those instances where our commitment to pursue this reset relationship means that we have a very broad agenda.
