RF, US to continue SOA consultations in Geneva.

GENEVA, March 9 (Itar-Tass) - The delegations of Russia and the United
States are to carry on their talks here on Tuesday on a new agreement on
reductions in strategic offensive arms (SOA).

As Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pointed out on the eve of a
regular, the tenth, round of the talks, the negotiators of the two
countries had succeeded in approaching closely the elaboration of a new
treaty on SOA.
When speaking at an enlarged meeting of the Board of the Russian
Ministry of Defense, the Head of State emphasized, "Within a comparatively
short period of time, through intensive talks with the United States, we
succeeded in closely approaching the elaboration of a new treaty on
strategic offensive arms, the treaty which envisages their further
reductions".
At the same time, analysts in the administration of US President
Barack Obama admit that plans for the siting of American anti-missiles in
Europe hamper finalization of the talks. As the spokesman for the Obama
administration told journalists, Moscow insists that provisions about the
possibility of a unilateral withdrawal from the treaty be included in the
text of a new document in case it arrives at a conclusion that the
interceptor missiles of the American anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system
in Europe poses a threat to Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Provisions about the possibility of a unilateral withdrawal had been
included in all the previous American-Russian arms control agreements.
President George W. Bush had availed himself of that when he had announced
in December 2001 that the USA would not fulfill its obligations under the
1972 ABM Treaty any longer.
As a US administration official pointed out, this time the White House
declares against, for it fears that that may make it more difficult to
ratify the prospective agreement in the US Senate.
On the other hand, the lack of linkage between SOA and ABM in the
document renders ratification of the treaty in the Russian parliament
impossible.
At the talks in Geneva the Russian delegation is led by Anatoly
Antonov, director of the Foreign Ministry's department for security and
disarmament, and the American one is headed by Rose Gottemoeller,
Assistant Secretary of States for Verification, Compliance, and
Implementation of Arms Control Agreements.

.RF, Finland FMs to discuss European security Tue.

MOSCOW, March 9 (Itar-Tass) - The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
Russia and Finland, Sergei Lavrov and Alexander Stubb, meet here on
Tuesday to discuss matters concerning security in the EuroAtlantic space,
as well as a possible transition to a visa-free travel regime.
RF Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said, "During the
Finnish Foreign Minister's working visit to Moscow, the sides are to
devote special attention to international matters of current importance
with emphasis on the problems of security in the EuroAtlantic space".
"The two Ministers are to discuss the Russian Initiative concerning a
Treaty on European Security, and Russia's relationship with the European
Union, including work on a new basic agreement and headway towards
visa-free travel for their citizens. The themes of nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation, as well as a number of regional aspects, will be also
touched upon," the Russian diplomat said.
Moscow and Helsinki "closely interact in the Council of the Barents
Sea/Euroarctic region, the Arctic Council, and within the framework of the
Northern Dimension initiative".
"(Bilateral) Trade-and-economic cooperation is maintained on a large
scale," Nesterenko went on to say. "Large-scale joint projects are being
implemented; innovations-based interaction develops, and
investments-related contacts gain in scope."
Nesterenko also announced that a regular session of the Russo-Finnish
intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation would be held in
Helsinki on April 10, 2010.

.Zhukov to chair Yekaterinburg meeting on labour market.

YEKATERINBURG, March 9 (Itar-Tass) - The situation on the labour
market in the regions will be the subject of discussion at a meeting which
is to be held here on Tuesday. It will be presided over by Vice-Premier
Alexander Zhukov.
A member of the Vice Premier's staff has told Itar-Tass that a working
trip to Yekaterinburg "in such a format has already become regular".
Apart from presiding over the meeting on the results of the monitoring
of regional employment situation, the Vice-Premier is also scheduled to
tour several large enterprises, industrial zones, as well as the Center
for Nano-Scale Technologies in the coming two days.
The Vice-Premier's staff member pointed out that during a tour of
other socially important facilities, the Vice-Premier is to devote special
attention to the Yekaterinburg-based Dialysis Center.
"This center has been established, exclusively, with the use of
private capital resources. Foremost technologies are in service there. To
the State, it can serve in many respects as an example of how the
modernization of the compulsory health insurance system will be
implemented in practice," the Vice-Premier's staff member said.
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