U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that disagreements over Georgia would not affect U.S.-Russian negotiations towards a new nuclear arms control treaty. “It is I think old thinking to say that we have a disagreement in one area, therefore we should not work on something else that is of overwhelming importance. That's just not the way we think,” Clinton told reporters at a State Department press conference. The two leaders said moving forward on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was too crucial to be conditioned on other issues. “If you look at what we are doing on START and non proliferation, that has to do with the future safety of the world and the United States and Russia bear a special responsibility,” she said. “So we are working very hard together.” Lavrov agreed with Clinton, adding that progress was too important “for the entire world in fact, to make it hostage of any particular regime anywhere around the globe.” The two countries agreed to new talks on nuclear arms reduction after U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev met in London in March. Russian and U.S. diplomats began talks in Rome on April 24.
