Secretary Clinton to Travel to Moscow

State Department just announced Secretary Clinton's upcoming trip to Moscow. Here is the official details so far:

On March 18-19 Secretary Clinton, accompanied by Senator Mitchell, will participate in a meeting of the Quartet with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton, as well as Quartet Representative Tony Blair, to discuss efforts to promote Middle East peace.

The Secretary will also meet with senior Russian officials to discuss progress on a successor agreement to START, cooperation on nonproliferation, counterterrorism, regional security issues, and the work of the Bilateral Presidential Commission.

According to other news sources, Secretary Clinton was quoted saying that she expected a new U.S.—Russia nuclear arms reduction treaty to be signed soon. “I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to complete this agreement soon,”Clinton said in an interview with Russian Newspaper, The New Times, published on Monday. “It’s a technically very complex treaty to accomplish. We share an interest in making real reductions in our strategic arsenals, and that is the most important point... By taking concrete steps such as the new START treaty, we can reduce our own stockpiles and encourage others to do the same,” Clinton said.

More details to come as they roll in!