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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet in Moscow - Source: Reuters -
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Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has criticised Russia's plans to start up a nuclear power station in Iran, describing them as premature.
As Clinton was entering a meeting in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced in a provincial city that Russia would start up the nuclear reactor it is building at Iran's Bushehr plant in the summer.
Asked at a subsequent news conference about Putin's announcement, a stern-looking Clinton responded that if Iran reassured the world that it was not pursuing nuclear weapons, then it could pursue civil nuclear power.
"In the absence of those reassurances, we think it would be premature to go forward with any project at this time because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians," she said.
Lavrov defended Russia's nuclear cooperation with Tehran, whose programme is monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran denies US charges that its real intention is to build a nuclear weapon.
"Bushehr plays a special role in maintaining the IAEA's presence in Iran, in ensuring that Iran is complying with its non-proliferation obligations," Lavrov said.
Russia agreed to build the 1,000-megawatt reactor at Bushehr 15 years ago but delays have haunted the $1.4 billion ($US1 billion) project and diplomats say Moscow has used it as a lever in relations with Tehran. It will be Iran's first nuclear power plant.
"Reset" button
The disagreement overshadowed the major goals of Clinton's visit - to seek Moscow's backing for tougher sanctions against Iran and clear obstacles to a US-Russian agreement cutting both sides' nuclear arsenals.
Clinton is keen to produce results from the drive to improve relations with Russia which began when she presented Lavrov in March 2009 with a red button labelled "Reset", symbolising hopes of a fresh start.
Clinton said both sides expected to sign their pact cutting nuclear weapons soon but conceded that negotiators had still not finished their work on a new treaty.
"We have a saying in the United States - don't count your chickens until they hatch," she told reporters.
"And that means that we are beginning our discussions about where and when our two presidents will sign the START agreement but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. First our negotiators have to sign on the dotted line."
Talks have dragged on in Geneva for almost a year on a new treaty to replace the Cold War-era START I pact, missing an original deadline of December.
Despite numerous assurances from both sides that agreement is near, a final deal has remained elusive.
Raising hopes of a possible breakthrough, a US official said on condition of anonymity that Clinton would meet Putin on Friday, a last-minute addition to her visit.
Diplomats say no significant breakthrough on an arms control treaty or on sanctions against Iran is likely without the agreement of Putin, Russia's most powerful politician.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also in Moscow for a Friday meeting of Middle East mediators, urged Russia and the United States to sign the new arms control pact "as soon as possible" during talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.
Both Clinton and Lavrov praised the more positive climate in bilateral relations but had only one formal announcement to make - that Washington would share financial intelligence with Moscow on the flow of drugs into Russia.
Clinton's trip to Russia includes a meeting on Friday of the Middle East quartet - the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.
Quartet Dinner And Meeting
US officials have been circumspect about the prospects for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The Middle East quartet discussions - a dinner on 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 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.
Clinton has described the announcement - made while US Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel last week - as insulting. She declined to be drawn on Thursday on whether she had spoken to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on the matter.
