Lavrov, Clinton to meet ahead of G20 London summit

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will hold their maiden meeting before the April summit of the world's 20 leading economies in London.

"I agreed with Hillary Clinton that we would meet before the G20 summit due on April 2 in London," Lavrov told reporters.

Lavrov on Monday, had a telephonic conversation with Clinton, who failed to reach him earlier last week, because he was away on Uzbekistan tour with president Dmitry Medvedev.

President Barack Obama also called up his Russian counterpart Medvedev on Monday night and agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the earliest.

"Both conversations were constructive. Both parties confirmed their interest in restarting Russian-US relations," Lavrov said.

Earlier reports had said Obama could visit Russia in April 2009, as part of his European tour, which is timed to coincide with the G20 summit in London, and Clinton could be expected in Moscow in March to prepare the agenda of the first summit after Obama's inauguration.