Clinton seeks to press reset button on Russia ties

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-07 13:30

GENEVA – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Russia's foreign minister on Friday, symbolically presenting him with a red "reset" button to improve ties that sank to a post-Cold War low during the Bush administration.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) smiles to the photographers while pressing a red knob with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a bilateral meeting in Geneva March 6, 2009. [Agencies]

No decisions were expected in their first substantive talks which were to cover issues from reducing nuclear arsenals and missile defense to US concerns over Georgia.

Clinton told Lavrov she looked forward to better ties. "We mean it," she said before the two sat down to a working dinner.

"I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice-President Biden and I have been saying and that is: 'We want to reset our relationship and so we will do it together," said Clinton, presenting Lavrov with a palm-sized yellow box with a red reset button.

Clinton and Lavrov had dinner on the 18th floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva.

They joked about the Russian misspelling of "reset" on the button before sitting down at an oval table with aides. "We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?" Clinton asked. "You got it wrong," said Lavrov, telling her "Peregruzka" meant "overcharge."

Lavrov and Clinton's predecessor Condoleezza Rice had a difficult relationship but the new top US diplomat smiled broadly and looked relaxed.

A senior US official said he hoped this would be the first of a range of substantive talks between the two, as well as preparing for a summit between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

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