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LISA MULLINS: I'm Lisa Mullins, and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH in Boston. The United States and Russia hit the reset button today – literally. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Russian counterpart in Geneva. The two appeared for a photo-op and Mrs. Clinton presented Sergey Lavrov with a red “reset” button as a gift and a symbol of how US wants to change relations with Russia. They smiled for the cameras and pushed the button together. As The World's Matthew Bell reports, that was supposed to be the fun part.

MATTHEW BELL: Clinton's gift was a little yellow box with a big red button on it. And there were two words – “Reset” in English, and then a Russian word that was supposed to mean the same thing. But Lavrov corrected Clinton on the translation.

CLINTON: We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?

LAVROV: You got it wrong.

CLINTON: I got it wrong. Oh.

BELL: So instead of “reset”, it said “overcharge” in Russian. But what's not lost in translation is the delicate state of US-Russian relations. Clinton acknowledged that ahead of her meeting with Lavrov today during an interview with the BBC.

CLINTON: We're going to try to seek some areas of cooperation. Our efforts against terrorism, our efforts on behalf of arms control and non-proliferation, energy security, climate change, things like that. But there are areas where we just flat out disagree and we're not going to paper those over.

BELL: Clinton said the US will not recognize the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia, and she said Washington will not allow Russia to have veto power over who can and can't join the European Union or NATO. That's a reference to former Soviet states of Ukraine and Georgia. During a joint news conference with Lavrov later today, Clinton said the two sides are discussing all the tough issues and that nothing's off the table.

CLINTON: We need more trust, predictability and progress that only comes from working together.

BELL: Lavrov reciprocated by saying Russia and the US will work together on arms control, on Afghanistan, and on the issue of American missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic. That's something President Obama has talked about in connection with Iran's nuclear program.

CLIFF KUPCHAN: It's essentially trading crown jewel for crown jewel.

BELL: Cliff Kupchan of the Eurasia Group.

KUPCHAN: What the Russians most care about is ballistic missile defense. They have been neuralgic, even paranoid, about US missile defense capabilities since the Cold War. Top of the US agenda is Iran. Tackling the Iran problem leads through Moscow. They have influence that we just don't. Moreover, they are contemplating selling S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, which would make the Israelis extremely nervous.

BELL: Those Russian anti-aircraft missiles in the hands of Iran could be a game-changer, because they might deter any possible air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel or anyone else. But Kupchan says where Moscow and Washington will run into the most difficulty is when they address what the Russians call their “near abroad.”

KUPCHAN: Very different views on NATO enlargement, very different views on policy in Russia's neighborhood, i.e. Ukraine and Georgia. So I think pressing the reset button will quickly run into NATO enlargement and Russia's policy towards its neighbors, and there's some very tough discussions ahead.

BELL: Those discussions await President Obama. He's expected to meet Russian President Dimitry Medvedev face to face at the G-20 summit in London next month. For The World, I'm Matthew Bell.

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