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Clinton in Moscow to push arms treaty and Middle East
President 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 too soft on Moscow.
Clinton’s 36-hour visit to Russia includes today’s meeting of the Middle East quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- and talks with 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 by up to a third. Lavrov said on Tuesday that they could have a deal ready for signing by early April.
“We are making very good progress. I can’t predict to you exactly when the agreement will be completed but ... we are getting closer,” Undersecretary of State William Burns told reporters as Clinton flew to Moscow.
Medvedev and Obama pledged last year to cut each nation’s deployed nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 but trust between the two former Cold War foes remains elusive. Talks on a new treaty 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.
During talks with Lavrov on Thursday, Ban urged the Cold War foes to act fast and sign an agreement before a nuclear disarmament summit Obama is hosting in mid-April. That will be followed by a May conference on nuclear proliferation. “I expect and sincerely hope that you and US President Obama will sign the START treaty as soon as possible,” Ban told Medvedev. Medvedev replied in English: “I hope so.”
World powers hope both nuclear meetings will help stem the spread of atomic weapons and rein in the ambitions of nations such as Iran and North Korea. Clinton was meeting Lavrov later on Thursday and Medvedev today but officials said there were no plans for her to see Russia’s most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
On Middle East issues, US officials were circumspect about the prospects for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The Middle East quartet discussions -- a dinner on Thursday night and today’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 has been marred by a rare, public US-Israeli dispute over Israel’s plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in a part of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem.
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