(13 Oct 2009)
1. Exterior of Russian foreign ministry's guesthouse
2. Zoom in to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov entering room
3. Cutaway of media
4. Wide of both delegations taking seats at meeting table
5. Cutaway of cameramen
6. Mid of Lavrov and Russian delegation
7. Mid of Clinton and US Under Secretary of State William Burns (to the right of Clinton) and US delegates listening
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State:
"Today we'll have a chance to discuss the progress we are making along with other important matters both between our two countries but increasingly important matters that we are working on together globally."
9. Mid of Clinton speaking to Lavrov
10. Wide of delegates at meeting table
STORYLINE
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Russian leaders on Tuesday to urge their support in pressuring Iran to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.
Clinton began her visit to Russia by meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and was to hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later in the day.
A senior State Department official travelling with Clinton said on Monday that she intended to speak to Lavrov and Medvedev about "what specific forms of pressure Russia would be prepared to join us and our allies in if Iran fails to live up to its obligations."
The official said it was critical to get tangible signs of support from Moscow because the more united the international community is the more likely pressure on Iran is to work.
During her meeting with Lavrov on Tuesday Clinton said she hoped to "discuss the progress" of common US and Russia interests and also discuss "increasingly important matters that we are working on together globally."
On Sunday, Clinton warned Iran that the world "will not wait indefinitely" for evidence it is not trying to develop atomic weapons.
She said a recent meeting in Geneva in which Iran and six world powers resumed nuclear talks was "a constructive beginning, but it must be followed by action" from the Iranians.
Iran insists it has the right to a full domestic nuclear enrichment program that it maintains is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production. It is already under three sets of UN sanctions.
Russia and China have balked at imposing new penalties on Iran although Medvedev has hinted the Russian position might be shifting after Tehran disclosed a previously secret uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom.
As Clinton left Washington on Friday for Switzerland, Britain, Ireland and Russia, Medvedev said his government does not want to see any more nations develop nuclear weapons, signalling that Moscow shares US concerns about Iran, but he said nothing about potential sanctions.
The US is expected to be looking for Russian expressions of support for sanctions and other penalties should Iran continue to refuse by the end of the year, the officials said.
Clinton is also expected to explore possible cooperation on missile defence following Obama's decision not to proceed with Bush-administration plans to base such a system in eastern Europe.
Russia had vehemently opposed those plans and has welcomed Obama's new approach.
Though the Kremlin is pleased with the move, it has pushed for a link between missile defence and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) talks.
Negotiators from the two countries are racing to reach agreement on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and Clinton wants to underscore the urgency of the talks, officials said.
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