Source: Bloggingheads.tv
When Secretary Clinton arrives in Moscow on October 13 to speak with President Medvedev and Foreign Minister Lavrov, her priorities will include addressing the situation in Afghanistan, strategic arms reductions, missile defense, nonproliferation and strengthening U.S.-Russian relations. One of her most important concerns, however, will engaging her Russian counterparts in a discussion of Iran and possible sanctions against it.
Ambassador Collins states that, "I think we still have a great deal of ground to cover before we’re going to be of one mind on Iran and how to approach it. But I do think that the meeting in Geneva recently and the apparent opening to have better inspections of Iranian facilities may also provide some basis for Washington and Moscow to look at this, to find a way to agree on at least some next steps, where they can say if nothing else, we all have to ensure that Iran is abiding by its commitments. I would hope that at a minimum we’ll see some work on that score. But we have a long way to go before we’re going to see the American and Russian sides agree on sanctions: I think it’s a tough issue.”