VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged on Saturday that the United States would soon lift cold-war-era trade sanctions on Russia, but she did not address related legislation in Congress that has so far blocked the move, infuriated the Kremlin and become an unexpected issue in the American presidential race.
Attending the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting here in place of a campaigning President Obama, Mrs. Clinton welcomed Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization last month, saying that the United States must now normalize trade relations in return so that American businesses can reap the benefits of Russia’s membership, including lower tariffs.
“We hope that the Congress will act on this important piece of legislation this month,” Mrs. Clinton said, adding that Russia’s membership has had the support of the past three American administrations.
The effort to grant Russia normal trading status, however, has become entangled in legislation that would punish Russian officials accused of abusing human rights by denying them visas and freezing their assets. That has raised doubts that any agreement can be reached before the November election.
The human rights bill, which has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison in 2009 after being prosecuted for charges that his supporters argue were manufactured to cover up official corruption.
Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential challenger, injected the legislation into the campaign this week by issuing a statement saying that, as president, he would only normalize trade with Russia if the Magnitsky bill were enacted. Mr. Obama’s administration, by contrast, has opposed the bill as too expansive, while expressing support for addressing rights abuses in Russia in some way.
The divisions over Russia as an issue in the American campaign came starkly into focus as Mrs. Clinton wrapped up a 10-day, 6-nation trip to Asia that overlapped the two parties’ political conventions.
Mr. Romney, in a statement from his policy director, criticized “the Obama administration’s attempts to scuttle the Magnitsky bill and its overall reluctance to shine a light on human rights abuses in Russia and the Putin government’s backsliding on democratic principles.”
President Vladimir V. Putin, the host of the conference here, also injected himself into the American campaign in an interview last week, in which he praised Mr. Obama as “a very honest man” and rebuked Mr. Romney for calling Russia “without question the No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the United States.
Mr. Putin and other Russian officials have vehemently opposed the sanctions Congress is now considering, warning of so-far-unspecified reciprocal measures if it is enacted into law.
In her public remarks here, Mrs. Clinton did not mention the Magnitsky legislation, although she said the administration was working with Congress to normalize trade relations. She raised the issue of human rights and recent moves by Russia to restrict nongovernmental organizations during a private breakfast of crepes and red caviar with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, a senior State Department official said.
Mrs. Clinton emphasized the accomplishments of a policy toward Russia that the administration called “the reset” shortly after coming into office.
“During the past three and a half years, the United States and Russia have deepened our cooperation to address shared challenges,” she said, citing the New Start treaty to reduce nuclear weapons and Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
As part of the negotiations over Russia’s membership, the United States agreed to lift trade barriers imposed in the 1970s to punish the Soviet Union for its restrictions on the emigration of Jews. Although those restrictions have been waived since the Soviet Union fell apart, their continued existence in American law would allow Russia to maintain higher duties on American products of its own choosing.
The administration has had tensions with Russia this year over Mr. Putin’s re-election, the protests that followed and the government’s intensifying crackdown on opponents, including three members of the punk band Pussy Riot, who were sentenced to two years in prison for a political protest in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
None of those issues surfaced publicly here. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Lavrov instead announced modest agreements on uncontroversial issues, and sought to portray them as examples of what Mr. Lavrov called “constructive cooperation.”
They signed a memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation and rescue operations in Antarctica and issued two statements encouraging regional trade delegations and establishing ties between national parks on either side of the Bering Strait.
“We are grateful for this and other opportunities to work more closely with Russia on areas of common concern that will deliver benefits to the people of both our nations,” she said. In their brief remarks, neither mentioned the pending legislation in Congress.
While the conference here focused on trade among 21 nations that account for 40 percent of the world’s economy, Mrs. Clinton privately pressed Russia to cooperate with the United States on the worsening conflict in Syria and the intensifying international confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Russia and China, which Mrs. Clinton also visited this week, have three times vetoed resolutions at the United Nations Security Council intended to force President Bashar al-Assad to make way for a political transition in the country.
Syria, along with Iran, dominated her private meetings with Mr. Lavrov and was expected to later, at an official dinner, with Mr. Putin. It was not clear whether the United States and Russia had come any closer to agreement over how to proceed.
Attending the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting here in place of a campaigning President Obama, Mrs. Clinton welcomed Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization last month, saying that the United States must now normalize trade relations in return so that American businesses can reap the benefits of Russia’s membership, including lower tariffs.
“We hope that the Congress will act on this important piece of legislation this month,” Mrs. Clinton said, adding that Russia’s membership has had the support of the past three American administrations.
The effort to grant Russia normal trading status, however, has become entangled in legislation that would punish Russian officials accused of abusing human rights by denying them visas and freezing their assets. That has raised doubts that any agreement can be reached before the November election.
The human rights bill, which has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison in 2009 after being prosecuted for charges that his supporters argue were manufactured to cover up official corruption.
Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential challenger, injected the legislation into the campaign this week by issuing a statement saying that, as president, he would only normalize trade with Russia if the Magnitsky bill were enacted. Mr. Obama’s administration, by contrast, has opposed the bill as too expansive, while expressing support for addressing rights abuses in Russia in some way.
The divisions over Russia as an issue in the American campaign came starkly into focus as Mrs. Clinton wrapped up a 10-day, 6-nation trip to Asia that overlapped the two parties’ political conventions.
Mr. Romney, in a statement from his policy director, criticized “the Obama administration’s attempts to scuttle the Magnitsky bill and its overall reluctance to shine a light on human rights abuses in Russia and the Putin government’s backsliding on democratic principles.”
President Vladimir V. Putin, the host of the conference here, also injected himself into the American campaign in an interview last week, in which he praised Mr. Obama as “a very honest man” and rebuked Mr. Romney for calling Russia “without question the No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the United States.
Mr. Putin and other Russian officials have vehemently opposed the sanctions Congress is now considering, warning of so-far-unspecified reciprocal measures if it is enacted into law.
In her public remarks here, Mrs. Clinton did not mention the Magnitsky legislation, although she said the administration was working with Congress to normalize trade relations. She raised the issue of human rights and recent moves by Russia to restrict nongovernmental organizations during a private breakfast of crepes and red caviar with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, a senior State Department official said.
Mrs. Clinton emphasized the accomplishments of a policy toward Russia that the administration called “the reset” shortly after coming into office.
“During the past three and a half years, the United States and Russia have deepened our cooperation to address shared challenges,” she said, citing the New Start treaty to reduce nuclear weapons and Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
As part of the negotiations over Russia’s membership, the United States agreed to lift trade barriers imposed in the 1970s to punish the Soviet Union for its restrictions on the emigration of Jews. Although those restrictions have been waived since the Soviet Union fell apart, their continued existence in American law would allow Russia to maintain higher duties on American products of its own choosing.
The administration has had tensions with Russia this year over Mr. Putin’s re-election, the protests that followed and the government’s intensifying crackdown on opponents, including three members of the punk band Pussy Riot, who were sentenced to two years in prison for a political protest in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
None of those issues surfaced publicly here. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Lavrov instead announced modest agreements on uncontroversial issues, and sought to portray them as examples of what Mr. Lavrov called “constructive cooperation.”
They signed a memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation and rescue operations in Antarctica and issued two statements encouraging regional trade delegations and establishing ties between national parks on either side of the Bering Strait.
“We are grateful for this and other opportunities to work more closely with Russia on areas of common concern that will deliver benefits to the people of both our nations,” she said. In their brief remarks, neither mentioned the pending legislation in Congress.
While the conference here focused on trade among 21 nations that account for 40 percent of the world’s economy, Mrs. Clinton privately pressed Russia to cooperate with the United States on the worsening conflict in Syria and the intensifying international confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Russia and China, which Mrs. Clinton also visited this week, have three times vetoed resolutions at the United Nations Security Council intended to force President Bashar al-Assad to make way for a political transition in the country.
Syria, along with Iran, dominated her private meetings with Mr. Lavrov and was expected to later, at an official dinner, with Mr. Putin. It was not clear whether the United States and Russia had come any closer to agreement over how to proceed.