Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: The meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev confirmed that our relations are on the rise: they have obtained new dynamics, taking on a new tone, and gaining new quality.
The President emphasised that last year, we have managed to really reset our relations, to turn back the degrading in our nations’ relationships that was in place before the Obama Administration came to power, and give our contacts at all levels of executive power an unprecedented intensity. Our relations today are characterised by honesty, openness and full compliance with the agreements we reached.
The President highlighted specifically that he is satisfied with the way Geneva negotiators carry out the instructions he and President Obama have given them and that he hopes that the negotiations on the new START treaty will be completed in a short period of time.
Russia and the USA also agreed to step up their cooperation on modernising Russia’s economy and helping it to make the transition to an innovative development track. And there is already a specific idea on how to do this as effectively as possible.
With regard to international issues, particular attention was given to the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme and our cooperation in Afghanistan. We share the same understanding that along these two problems, just like in many other cases, we need to come up with collective approaches that can be then implemented most effectively by the global community. In this context, the President confirmed Russia’s readiness and desire to cooperate with the United States and other partners on all aspects of both these problems.
In conclusion, I would like to share my personal impressions of the meeting. I believe that the ‘reset’ was successful, and it is very important that we don’t stop but keep on advancing. We need to avoid any interruptions in our dialogue, and in this context, I believe that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s current visit to Russia can be considered as air refuelling.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Thank you. Let me echo Minister Lavrov’s comments. As President Medvedev said at the very beginning of our meeting, the reset has been a success. And now we have to build on the relationships that we have developed, starting between our two presidents, and going throughout our governments.
The bilateral commission that Sergey and I direct under the leadership of our Presidents is making a lot of progress. Let me give you just one example. Just recently there was a delegation from the United States consisting of high technology companies that came to Russia, visited with many businesses and academic institutions and innovators looking for ways to deepen the relationship between our high-tech businesses and academic institutions.
Later this spring there will be a exchange between young people as part of our sports program where young Russians will come to the United States for the purpose of playing basketball. So our relationship is not just between our governments, it is increasingly between the American and Russian people.
As Sergey said, we are very encouraged by progress on a new START agreement. Our negotiating teams have reported that they have resolved all of the major issues and there are some technical issues that remain, but we are on the brink of seeing a new agreement between the United States and Russia.
We also discussed a range of other issues from Iran to Afghanistan and so much more as our part of our ongoing consultation. And we look forward to welcoming President Medvedev back to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit in a few weeks.
Again, I thank Minister Lavrov for his hospitality and the very cooperative working relationship that we enjoy.
Question (Russian television channel NTV): I have a question for both ministers. You said that only technical issues remain to be agreed. Have you resolved the issues regarding the link between the reduction of strategic offensive arms and the deployment of US ABM system facilities in Eastern Europe? And if the date for signing the new treaty has not yet been set, have you at least come up with location? Will this happen in Washington at the Nuclear Summit, or perhaps, in Kiev, as it was suggested? Or are you for Prague?
Sergei Lavrov: Do you truly believe that we will give you an answer right now?
I can only say that last April, during President Medvedev and President Obama’s first meeting, they made a series of statements in which they stated, among other things, that there is a link between strategic offensive and defensive arms, and the presidents instructed their government cabinets to take this link into account. And the work currently being done by our negotiators in Geneva reflects these presidential instructions.
Hillary Clinton: Let me say that we are very pleased by progress that has been made. And we hope and expect that there will be a signing in the near future. But as Sergey said, we are not going to preempt any announcement of place or time on this occasion.
(After Sergei Lavrov corrected the interpreter.) Because I’m not bilingual, you can say anything and I’ll agree.
Question (The New York Times): It has been seven months since the disclosure of the secret Iranian nuclear facility at Qom, three months since the Iranian government rejected the offer of enrichment for the Tehran research reactor, and one month since the government of Iran announced it would begin enriching uranium up to 20 percent. And yet, after (inaudible) an international solidarity on how to confront Iran are continuing and taking by all accounts longer than anyone had hoped, there have been some comments recently from diplomats that we might not see a UN resolution until June.
My question is simply whether you worry that the clock is in some sense running out? And what you would hope to do to speed up this process?
Hillary Clinton: Well, first of all, we have pursued the diplomatic track and thought it was correct to do so. We are now, however, at the stage where we are asking for action and are working very hard in the Security Council to attain a resolution expressing the international community’s disapproval of Iranian actions and pulling together the world in a regime of smart sanctions, as President Medvedev has referred to them, that will try to change the behavior of the Iranian leadership. And we believe we are making progress because many countries are seeing what you have briefly summarized along with the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and we expect to reach consensus around an appropriate response.
Sergei Lavrov: I can say that naturally, we are carefully monitoring the information as it appears, including in the media, such as the New York Times, with regard to new facts related in various ways to suspicions about Iran’s nuclear programme.
Naturally, we would prefer for this information to have appeared earlier, when it was initially obtained by those who had it. But I will repeat that we are carefully monitoring these publications. In any case, we do not rely on assessments made by media people or political analysts, but rather, on assessments made by IAEA specialists, which is an internationally recognised instrument the global community uses to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The reports presented by the IAEA’s director general on a regular basis give very clear assessments of the situation that do not give any reasons for alarm. This does not mean that we are happy with Iran’s actions. We feel that Iran neglects the opportunity to establish a normal, legitimate, mutually beneficial dialogue with the global community based on the proposals made by the E3+3 group and the IAEA.
We believe strongly that Iran must comply with the requirements put forward earlier by the IAEA and supported by several resolutions of the UN Security Council. Along with other nations, we continue to work with Iran to make it come up with a constructive response. We do not exclude the possibility that additional work in the UN Security Council might be required.
As President Medvedev has said on numerous occasions, sanctions rarely work. Nevertheless, there are situations when they become inevitable. I am not ruling out that this may occur with regard to Iran.
At the same time – and this, too, has been stated by President Medvedev and reaffirmed during today’s talks – we are certain that any possible sanctions must be smart. These sanctions must not be aggressive or paralysing, or have a negative effect on the humanitarian situation in Iran. They must not be targeted against the population but rather target those responsible for making decisions to cooperate with the global community.
Today, we confirmed our readiness to continue working together with our American partners based on the approaches I outlined.