Russian foreign minister leaves for New York to attend UN General

MOSCOW, September 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday leaves for New York to take part in a political
discussion at an annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Lavrov has been leading Russian delegations since 2004, and this is
his seventh session of the General Assembly. This year, Lavrov's program
includes more than 60 meetings, both bilateral and multilateral, that will
be held on the sidelines of the session.
"The Russian delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations
Organization opening on Monday will be led by Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. In
his words, the Russian foreign minister will speak about Russia's
approaches to such problems as global and European security, promoting
non-proliferation regimes, conflict settlement in the Middle East and
North Africa, and U.N. reforms.
The Russian Foreign Minister will take part in a ministerial meeting
of the Middle East Quartet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Experts believe that within the "ministerial week" in the United Nations
Palestine will file an application for a U.N. membership, or the
recognition of its independence in the long run. In is expected that
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will read out the application on
September 23.
"On the sidelines of the session, apart from bilateral meetings and
talks with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Sergei Lavrov will take
part in such ministerial meetings as the Group of Eight, the Middle East
Quartet, and the five members of the United Nations Security Council," the
Russian foreign ministry spokesman said.
"Also on the sidelines of the session of the United National General
Assembly, foreign ministers from member countries of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and South Africa), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will
hold a meeting. Apart from that, Sergei Lavrov will meet with foreign
ministers from countries of the European Union, members of the Non-Aligned
Movement, and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
(CCASG)," Lukashevich said.
Also on the sidelines of the session, "mini summit meetings on Libya,
Somalia, and on issues of humanitarian aid to countries of the Horn of
Africa, and a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan will be held," the
spokesman added.