Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for NATO to make “a fresh start” with Russia, saying the alliance “must find ways to work constructively with Russia where we share areas of common interest, including helping the people of Afghanistan.”

Secretary Clinton says that at a meeting planned tomorrow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov she intends to raise the issue of Russo-Iranian talks regarding “selling longer range missiles which we think are a threat to Russia,” presumably referring to the S-300 missile defense system sought by the Iranian government, but which Russia has repeatedly said it does not intend to sell to Iran.

But while Clinton seemed interested in moving forward with some measure of improved relations with Russia, she was quite insistant about keeping the nations of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which declared independence at the end of the war between Russia and Georgia (with considerable support from the Russian government) internationally isolated. She insisted that NATO members must “never” recognize either nation.

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz

• Homegrown US 'Terror Plots' Drop, But Nation Still 'On Edge' - February 9th, 2012
• Amputations Soared Among US Troops in 2011 - February 9th, 2012
• US Still Can't Find Missing Libyan Missiles - February 9th, 2012
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Let Us Form Government - February 9th, 2012
• As Reports of Violence Grow in Syria, So Do Western Calls for Intervention - February 9th, 2012