ID :
113857
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 14:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/113857
The shortlink copeid
Lavrov travels to Canada to attend G-8 ministerial meeting
.
MOSCOW, March 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
is leaving for Canada on Sunday to attend a G8 ministerial meeting and the
second meeting of the "Arctic Five" to be held on March 29-30.
A conference of the foreign ministers of coastal countries of the
Arctic Sea (Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway) will be
held in a small town of Chelsea to the north from Ottawa on March 29. The
ministers will discuss continental shelf problems, climate change, the
preservation of fragile arctic ecological systems, and the development of
the Arctic Sea resources, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei
Nesterenko said.
He said that Moscow hoped that the meeting would continue discussing
Russia's initiatives on how to expand cooperation in the Arctic.
Later on Monday, the Russian foreign minister will hold several
bilateral meetings and will participate in protocol events, which
traditionally precede and give a start to G8 summits.
The main discussions within the framework of the forum, which plays
the role of a vital mechanism for a collective search for solutions to the
most urgent political problems, are scheduled for March 30.
Canada, which is now presiding over the European Union, will raise
three major blocs of issues. The first concerns non-proliferation of
nuclear weapons in Washington and a regular Conference on the validity of
the nuclear proliferation treaty, Nesterenko emphasized in this connection.
"The ministers will have to work out a general line in order to make
these two forums successful," the diplomatic source told Itar-Tass. Other
topics for discussion will include the Iranian and North Korean nuclear
programs and the creation of a zone free from nuclear weapons in the Far
East. In this connection, Lavrov will brief those present on the results
of a meeting of the 'quartet' of international brokers that was held in
Moscow on March 19.
The second bloc of issues concerns measures of counteracting
international terrorism, drug trafficking and other contemporary global
challenges. A Canada-pursued initiative on assisting socio-economic
development of the Afghan-Pakistani border areas will be announced.
"Proceeding from the fact that development of regional cooperation
becomes a vital factor of stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan
and the entire region. Moscow considers this project to be very useful, "
the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The third subject proposed by Canada will be coordination of
international effort with so-called vulnerable states. The Russian side is
to come up with two new initiatives. The first one is on peacekeeping. It
provides for unification of peacekeeping programs: the strengthening of a
set of regional centres for the training of peacekeepers and the creation
of national and international registers of peacekeepers and civilian
experts. The second concerns inability to promptly deal with natural
disasters demonstrated by the tragic events on Haiti. "Therefore, Russia
is for building international potential that will help reacting to natural
manmade disasters," the Russian Foreign Minister went on to say.
The leaders of eight industrially- developed nations are to pass
several documents. The general results of discussion will be reflected in
a statement.
-0-fil/
MOSCOW, March 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
is leaving for Canada on Sunday to attend a G8 ministerial meeting and the
second meeting of the "Arctic Five" to be held on March 29-30.
A conference of the foreign ministers of coastal countries of the
Arctic Sea (Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway) will be
held in a small town of Chelsea to the north from Ottawa on March 29. The
ministers will discuss continental shelf problems, climate change, the
preservation of fragile arctic ecological systems, and the development of
the Arctic Sea resources, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei
Nesterenko said.
He said that Moscow hoped that the meeting would continue discussing
Russia's initiatives on how to expand cooperation in the Arctic.
Later on Monday, the Russian foreign minister will hold several
bilateral meetings and will participate in protocol events, which
traditionally precede and give a start to G8 summits.
The main discussions within the framework of the forum, which plays
the role of a vital mechanism for a collective search for solutions to the
most urgent political problems, are scheduled for March 30.
Canada, which is now presiding over the European Union, will raise
three major blocs of issues. The first concerns non-proliferation of
nuclear weapons in Washington and a regular Conference on the validity of
the nuclear proliferation treaty, Nesterenko emphasized in this connection.
"The ministers will have to work out a general line in order to make
these two forums successful," the diplomatic source told Itar-Tass. Other
topics for discussion will include the Iranian and North Korean nuclear
programs and the creation of a zone free from nuclear weapons in the Far
East. In this connection, Lavrov will brief those present on the results
of a meeting of the 'quartet' of international brokers that was held in
Moscow on March 19.
The second bloc of issues concerns measures of counteracting
international terrorism, drug trafficking and other contemporary global
challenges. A Canada-pursued initiative on assisting socio-economic
development of the Afghan-Pakistani border areas will be announced.
"Proceeding from the fact that development of regional cooperation
becomes a vital factor of stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan
and the entire region. Moscow considers this project to be very useful, "
the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The third subject proposed by Canada will be coordination of
international effort with so-called vulnerable states. The Russian side is
to come up with two new initiatives. The first one is on peacekeeping. It
provides for unification of peacekeeping programs: the strengthening of a
set of regional centres for the training of peacekeepers and the creation
of national and international registers of peacekeepers and civilian
experts. The second concerns inability to promptly deal with natural
disasters demonstrated by the tragic events on Haiti. "Therefore, Russia
is for building international potential that will help reacting to natural
manmade disasters," the Russian Foreign Minister went on to say.
The leaders of eight industrially- developed nations are to pass
several documents. The general results of discussion will be reflected in
a statement.
-0-fil/