Medvedev ends state visit to France.

PARIS, March 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ends
his state visit to France on Wednesday.
During his visit that began on Monday Medvedev had substantial talks
with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. After the talks a range of
documents was signed and the two countries' leaders gave a news conference.
The Russian president also held talks with French Prime Minister
Francois Fillon and the heads of the two houses of the French parliament.
Medvedev also met with the Paris city mayor and delivered a speech at
the city hall. He laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the
Arc de Triomphe.
Medvedev also had a meeting with Russian and French business people.
One of the central events of the visit is the opening of a unique Holy
Russia exhibition in the Louvre Museum. This event gave the launch to a
project entitled the Russia France Cross Year.
The second day of Medvedev's visit ended with a state dinner hosted by
President Nicolas Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni.



.Putin, Kazakh PM to discuss prospects for stronger economic ties.

MOSCOW, March 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on
Wednesday will hold a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov,
who is on a working visit to Moscow.
The prime ministers plan to discuss pressing issues of the two
countries' bilateral relations and draw up the guidelines for cooperation
in space, nuclear power, transport, the military sector, fuel and energy
complex as well as rational and efficient use of water resources of
cross-border rivers.
Putin and Masimov will focus on the functioning of the Customs Union,
the formation of a common economic space and cooperation within the
framework of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), the Collective
Security Treaty Organization and the CIS. The will also discuss joint
events devoted to the 65th anniversary of the victory in WWII.
Kazakhstan is one of Russia's key trade and economic partners. In 2009
despite the global economic recession the bilateral trade amounted to
12.83 billion U.S. dollars, including Russia's export totalling 9.15
billion U.S. dollars and the import from Kazakhstan - 3.68 billion U.S.
dollars.



.Russia to send humanitarian cargo to quake-hit Chile.

MOSCOW, March 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Emergencies Ministry will send
a humanitarian cargo to Chile that was hit by a disastrous quake, the
ministry's information department told Itar-Tass.
A transport plane Il-76 is being prepared for the flight at the
Ramenskoye airfield.
"It is planned that it will take off early on Wednesday," the source
said.
The plane will deliver the first batch of tents, blankets, mobile
power stations and pumps.
"On Thursday, March 4, the Emergencies Ministry will send another
plane with humanitarian consignment to Chile," the source said.
According to the latest information, a massive quake killed 723
people, another nineteen are still missing. A search and rescue operation
is under way.



.Ukraine's parliament to consider no-confidence motion in Cabinet.

KIEV, March 3 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday will
consider resignation of the Yulia Timoshenko-led government that was sworn
into office over two years ago.
Parliamentarians from the Party of Regions put forward a no-confidence
motion in the Cabinet.
"Policies taken by the government strongly aggravated social and
economic problems in the society," members of the pro-presidential party
said. "High inflation rates and criminal ignorance of the government did
not contribute to higher consumer demand, but even affected the domestic
consumption."
Parliamentarians criticise the Cabinet for the lack of economic
modernization measures, non-fulfilment of state programs, exacerbation of
regional disproportions and destruction of the social sector in rural
areas.
The deputy head of the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions,
Alexander Efremov, said "certainly, there is a majority in the parliament
that can pass a vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet." This is confirmed
by the fact that on January 28 parliamentarians voted for resignation of
Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko.
On March 2, parliamentary speaker Vladimir Litvin announced that the
parliamentary coalition supporting the government stopped to exist.
Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said she would continue to lead
democratic forces in the country irrespective of the results of the voting.

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