VLADIVOSTOK: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday held talks that were expected to focus on their two nations' deep differences over Syria.
Clinton is pressing for tougher international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and has sharply criticised Russia, which has vetoed two UN draft resolutions and is the main military supporter of the Syrian regime.
Russia has accused outside powers of prolonging the bloodshed in Syria, which activists say has left more than 26,000 people dead, by backing the opposition. The United States says it provides only non-lethal assistance.
Clinton and Lavrov, who are in the Russian port of Vladivostok for an Asia-Pacific summit, began their breakfast meeting by signing an agreement to expand cooperation in the Antarctic between the scientists and rescue missions.
"It is a clear example of concrete cooperation between Russia and the United States in this sphere where our interests coincide," Lavrov said.
Clinton cast the agreement as part of President Barack Obama's so-called "reset" policy with Russia, in which the administration has sought progress where possible including through a START treaty on nuclear warhead reductions.
"During the past three and a half years, the United States and Russia have deepened our cooperation to address shared challenges. We have adopted a new START treaty, increased trade and investment and supported Russia joining the WTO," she said, referring to the World Trade Organization.
Clinton is representing Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit as the president is busy on his re-election campaign. President Vladimir Putin plans to meet only briefly with Clinton as she is not a head of state.
Mitt Romney, Obama's conservative challenger in the November 6 election, has sharply attacked the reset policy and described Russia as the top geopolitical foe of the United States.
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