GENEVA - US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton sought to break the ice with her Russian counterpart on Friday by handing him a fake 'reset' button - or at least that was what it was supposed to be.

Mrs Clinton handed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the button wrapped in a ribbon as they began their first meeting in a luxury hotel in Geneva.

Earlier this year, US Vice President Joe Biden told foreign leaders at an international security conference in Munich, southern Germany, that the Obama administration wanted to improve ties with Moscow.