Clinton to head commission with Lavrov

Secretary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be heading a commission to facilitate cooperation between their respective countries. (Sounds like Russia is too important of a topic for Clinton to delegate to an envoy.)

Yesterday at the Moscow summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama said:

Too often, the United States and Russia only communicate on a narrow range of issues or let old habits within our bureaucracy stand in the way of our progress. … And that’s why this commission will include working groups on development and the economy, energy and the environment, nuclear energy and security, arms control and international security, defense, foreign policy and counterterrorism, preventing and handling emergencies, civil society, science and technology, space, health, education and culture.”

Clinton couldn’t attend the summit due to her fractured elbow, but she will travel to Russia as head of the commission. 

Despite the awkwardness with the reset button blooper earlier this year (seen above on March 6), Lavrov seems to get along well with Clinton. “Lavrov, plainly gets on a good deal better with Hillary Clinton than he did with Condoleezza Rice,” writes a commentator in The Independent in Britain.

Hopefully they’ll get along well enough to make progress on the multitude of issues Obama listed.

Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images