Clinton to Lavrov: U.S. will be happy to have Russian NGOs come on over

In her June 24 remarks to the U.S.-Russia "Civil Society to Civil Society" (C2C) summit, which focused on collaboration between U.S. and Russian NGOs, Secretary Clinton had this to say about Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov:

In one of my early discussions with Minister Lavrov, he said, ‘Well, you know, we don’t like it when you have so many NGOs coming to Russia.’ And I said, ‘Well, send Russian NGOs to the United States. We’ll be happy to have them.’ And I really mean that. I think the more exchange and the more cross-fertilization the better.

Clinton also highlighted the risks that Russian activists and journalist face:

[T]he United States remains deeply concerned about the safety of journalists and human rights activists in Russia. Among others, we remember the murdered American journalist Paul Klebnikov; the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in pretrial detention last year. We continue to urge that justice be delivered in these cases. We’re committed to working with you to find ways to reduce threats and protect the lives of activists.