Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow as the U.S. seeks clarification on possible Russian support for new sanctions against Iran.

“I unfortunately was not able to come during the summit between our two presidents because I broke my elbow,” Clinton said today at the start of her meeting with Lavrov. “Now both my elbow and our relationship are reset and we’re moving forward, which I greatly welcome.”

Clinton arrived in Moscow last night for meetings with Lavrov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The U.S. and its European allies are concerned that Iran is making headway on acquiring the capability to build a nuclear weapon. Iran told United Nations nuclear inspectors last month it is building an underground nuclear-fuel plant, a facility that the U.S., Britain and France said was a secret site.

During an Oct. 1 meeting near Geneva with the U.S., other members of the UN Security Council and Germany, Iran agreed to allow an inspection of the new enrichment facility outside Tehran. The country also agreed to meet with negotiators for the U.S. and other UN members later this month.

New Sanctions

The U.S. and other powers have said they will wait until the end of the year before pushing for any new sanctions against Iran. Three rounds of Security Council sanctions have failed to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment. U.S. officials welcomed Medvedev’s comments in New York last month that new sanctions may be inevitable.

Still, Russia has long been cool to new penalties and it is yet to be determined what types of sanctions, if any, Russia would support.

“We should not overestimate how far it carries the Russians in our direction,” James Collins, U.S. ambassador to Russia from 1997-2001, and now an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said of Medvedev’s comment.

Clinton will also discuss a proposal, discussed at the Geneva meeting, to ship most of Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile to Russia to be turned into fuel for a Tehran medical research facility, a State Department official said on condition of anonymity to reporters traveling with Clinton to Moscow.

Her trip to Moscow follows President Barack Obama’s visit in July, during which he sought to make a fresh start in U.S.- Russian relations, which were often tense during the Bush administration.

Nuclear Arsenals

Clinton will have wide-ranging discussions as part of a new bilateral commission established by the two presidents, extending beyond Iran to the possibility of expanding cooperation on Afghanistan and finalizing a new treaty to set limits on the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.

While in Moscow, Clinton will meet with civil society activists. On Oct. 7, she issued a statement marking the third anniversary of the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose murderers have never been brought to justice.

The U.S. last week welcomed an inaugural flight transporting lethal material through Russian airspace to supply troops in Afghanistan, an arrangement that will save the U.S. roughly $135 million annually in fuel costs, according to the State Department official.

The U.S. would seek broader contributions from Russia in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the official said.

Arms Treaty

Clinton will also discuss sticking points regarding the drafting of a replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty governing U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. A new treaty likely won’t be ratified by the U.S. Senate by the time the old one expires Dec. 5, creating a potential vacuum of at least several months.

The treaty sets limits on the numbers of warheads and delivery vehicles the U.S. and Russia can maintain and sets up verification mechanisms.

Russian leaders will also likely raise questions about U.S. plans for missile defense for Europe in the wake of Obama’s decision last month to scrap a Bush administration plan to station a radar and missile interceptors in former Soviet satellites, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Asked about reports that Alexander Vershbow, an assistant secretary of defense, told reporters in Washington that the U.S. might put part of a new system in Ukraine, the official said Vershbow was misquoted. The reported comment drew criticism from Lavrov.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Moscow at jzacharia@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 13, 2009 03:28 EDT