Hillary in Moscow to push arms treaty, Mideast peace
Friday, 19 March 2010
MOSCOW, Mar 18 (Reuters): US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Russia Thursday hoping to clear obstacles to a new treaty cutting arsenals of nuclear weapons and to win Moscow's backing for tougher sanctions against Iran.
President Barack Obama has attempted to "reset" relations with Russia after a stormy period under his predecessor George W. Bush. But his administration needs results from its initiatives to counter Republican charges he is soft on Moscow.
Clinton's 36-hour visit to Russia includes a meeting on Friday of the quartet of Middle East peace mediators -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- as well as talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on arms control and Iran.
Russian and US teams have been negotiating for nearly a year on a successor to the 1991 START I treaty cutting arsenals of nuclear weapons and Lavrov said Tuesday that they could have a deal ready for signing by early April.
A fresh treaty would give fresh impetus to the "reset" in relations between Moscow and Washington but talks have bogged down in recent months over Russian concerns about US plans for anti-missile systems in eastern Europe and disagreements over how to count and verify warheads.
Washington also hopes to win Moscow's backing for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, which the West suspects is intended to produce atomic weapons.
Clinton will meet Lavrov later Thursday and Medvedev Friday but officials said there were no plans for her to see Russia's most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin was out of Russia traveling during Clinton's last visit in October.
On Middle East issues, US officials were circumspect about the prospects for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The Middle East quartet discussions -- a dinner Thursday night and Friday's formal session -- are designed to show international backing for indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians that the United States announced last week.
However, the launch of negotiations launch has been marred by a rare, public US-Israeli dispute over Israel's plans to plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in a part of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem.
President Barack Obama has attempted to "reset" relations with Russia after a stormy period under his predecessor George W. Bush. But his administration needs results from its initiatives to counter Republican charges he is soft on Moscow.
Clinton's 36-hour visit to Russia includes a meeting on Friday of the quartet of Middle East peace mediators -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- as well as talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on arms control and Iran.
Russian and US teams have been negotiating for nearly a year on a successor to the 1991 START I treaty cutting arsenals of nuclear weapons and Lavrov said Tuesday that they could have a deal ready for signing by early April.
A fresh treaty would give fresh impetus to the "reset" in relations between Moscow and Washington but talks have bogged down in recent months over Russian concerns about US plans for anti-missile systems in eastern Europe and disagreements over how to count and verify warheads.
Washington also hopes to win Moscow's backing for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, which the West suspects is intended to produce atomic weapons.
Clinton will meet Lavrov later Thursday and Medvedev Friday but officials said there were no plans for her to see Russia's most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin was out of Russia traveling during Clinton's last visit in October.
On Middle East issues, US officials were circumspect about the prospects for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The Middle East quartet discussions -- a dinner Thursday night and Friday's formal session -- are designed to show international backing for indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians that the United States announced last week.
However, the launch of negotiations launch has been marred by a rare, public US-Israeli dispute over Israel's plans to plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in a part of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem.