Lavrov ending visit to Geneva, going to Trieste for G8 ministerial

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GENEVA, June 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Thursday is winding up his working visit to the Swiss Confederation and
departing for the Italian city Trieste in order to take part on June 25-27
in an enlarged meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers (with the
participation of officials from India, China, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey).
The Russian foreign minister's visit programme envisaged also meetings
with the British colleague David Miliband and US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. However, the second meeting will not take place, because
the American state secretary cancelled all her foreign trips due to an arm
injury. US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns
will go to Italy instead of her.
The main themes for discussion at the Trieste meeting will be issues
of global politics, in particular, non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, counterterrorism, combating trans-national organised crime
and piracy at sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko
said. "The foreign ministers will also focus on the situation in
Afghanistan, including Afghan-Pakistani relations in the regional
context," the diplomat noted.
The foreign ministers' meeting will become an important stage in the
discussion of key world issues and preparation for the summit of the G8
leaders in L'Aquila (Italy) that will be held on July 8-10. The ministers
are expected to consider the political agenda of the G8 and prepare
proposals for the political discussion at the level of the heads of state.
Italy that is currently presiding in the G8 also invited to Trieste a
representative of Iran. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki stated that he did not intend to take part in the meeting of the
G8 foreign ministers.
A meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators will
be held on June 26 in Trieste that is one of the main Italian ports in the
Adriatic for holding important international meetings.
On June 27, Lavrov will go to the Greek Island of Corfu for the
participation in an informal summit of the foreign ministers of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in an
unofficial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council. It will be the first
meeting at such a high level after the August events last year when the
regime of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili made an attempt to wipe
out South Ossetia.
-0-ezh