Russian FM Lavrov, U.S. State Secretary Clinton content with talks

GENEVA, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister and the U.S. secretary of state have said they are content with their talks in Geneva and hope for continuation of dialogue on bilateral and global issues.

Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton said they will rebuild bilateral relations and try to reach an agreement on a new strategic arms reduction treaty by the end of 2009.

The Strategic Arms Reduction (START-1) Treaty signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1991 places a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on each side, and limits the number of delivery vehicles, such as bombers, land-based and submarine-based missiles, to 1,600 each. The treaty expires in December 2009.

They also voiced the hope that interaction will be continued in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and in the Middle East settlement, as well as in the resolution of the Iran and North Korea problems.

Clinton and Lavrov met in Geneva on Friday to discuss a number of issues on the international agenda, as well as bilateral relations that became increasingly strained during the era of the Bush administration.

They made a symbolic "reboot" to improve relations between the two countries when they met.

As a symbolic start to the process, Clinton brought to the meeting a yellow box with a large red "reset" button, which she asked Lavrov to push with her. On either side of the button was a label in English "reset," and what was supposed to be a Russian translation.

However, Lavrov pointed out to Clinton that there was a mistake in the Russian equivalent and instead of "reset," the word had been translated as "overload."

"You've made a mistake," Lavrov told Clinton. "It should be written 'reset,' but there's a completely different word here." In Russian, the word "peregruzka" means overload, whereas "pereZAgruzka" means reset.

Clinton laughed and promised not to "overload" Russian-U.S. relations.

This was Lavrov and Clinton's first official meeting and a lead-up to the G20 summit in London on April 2, where Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama will meet for the first time.