Russia Lavrov in US for tough talks on Iran, Hamas

Washington, Mar 07: Growing US-Russian tensions including differences over Iran and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are expected to be aired in talks today between Russia's foreign minister and the Bush administration.

Sergei Lavrov's visit for meetings with President George W Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also follows the weekend publication of an influential think-tank report urging Washington to stop treating ''authoritarian'' Russia as a partner.

Russia has undercut America's drive to isolate Hamas by hosting the group in Moscow after its victory in Palestinian elections.

Moscow has also been seeking to forge its own agreement with Iran to curb its nuclear programs and slow the US campaign for UN measures against the Islamic republic.

The moves come amid rising strains over what Washington sees as Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasing grip on power, one that belies his status as chair of July's summit of the Group of Eight industrialized democracies.

Russian and US officials anticipated Lavrov and his hosts will discuss their differences.

''The visit proceeds against a difficult information background in Russian-US relations,'' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin, promising 'honest' talks.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey predicted 'frank' and 'candid' discussions, diplomatic code-words for meetings about disagreements and highlighted US concern over Moscow's limits on nongovernmental groups and its use of energy supply as a 'political weapon'.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, asked if the United States needed to get tougher with Russia, said: ''We need to be realistic about Russia.'' In an interview with public television's ''The Charlie Rose Show,'' Burns said there will be times when the United States can work with Putin and times when it cannot.

''We don't have to be shrinking violets. We can assert our national interest when it is opposed to the Russian point of view,'' he added.

At Lavrov's main public event, a news conference with Rice, he and the former Soviet specialist are expected to stress their nations' cooperation, such as in counterterrorism.

They are also likely to emphasize that despite tactical differences over Iran and Hamas, they agree on the principles that Tehran should not build a nuclear bomb and the Palestinian group must recognize Israel as it forms a government.

But a study by leading US scholars on Russia and former policymakers emphasized clashes of interests between Washington and Moscow ranging from energy to democracy.

''Contention is crowding out consensus. The very idea of a 'strategic partnership' no longer seems realistic,'' said the report, which was released before the visit by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

The countries could still selectively cooperate when their interests intersected, the study's director Stephen Sestanovich said in an interview.

He cited Iran, which has so far rejected Russia's proposals for ending the nuclear standoff, as a test case that would show whether Moscow is willing to side with the West against a major trading partner or sees more benefit in acting independently.

''It has the potential to strengthen or wreck Russia's relationship with the West,'' he said.

Reuters