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| Tuesday, November 13, 2001, updated at 09:34(GMT+8) |
Russian President Leaves for US Visit |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin left Moscow Monday for a four-day official visit to the US. During his first visit to the US, Putin will hold several rounds of talks with his US counterpart W.George Bush both at the White House and at Bush's ranch in the Texas State.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin left Moscow Monday for a four-day official visit to the US.
During his first visit to the US, Putin will hold several rounds of talks with his US counterpart W.George Bush both at the White House and at Bush's ranch in the Texas State.
Itar-tass quoted Kremlin sources as saying that some five or seven joint statements were expected to be signed during Putin's visit, which will cover the fields of strategic stability, fight against international terrorism, efforts against drug trafficking, regional problems as well as bilateral economic cooperation.
Besides, Putin will meet with leading U.S. congressmen, public and political activists as well as business elite.
The Russian president will also visit the site of the September 11 tragedy in New York and pay tribute to the victims.
Presidential press secretary Alexei Gromov said before Putin's departure that the Monday crash of an A-300 passenger jet in New York did not change Putin's visit to the U.S. The White House also released the same information, but said President Bush's interview with the press originally scheduled for Monday morning had been postponed.
Deputy chief of staff Sergei Prikhodko said Sunday night that Putin's U.S. trip would consolidate the fundamentals of Russian-U.S. relations, and most importantly, would speed up cooperation on key issues of international politics and bilateral relations.
Active dialogue of the two presidents and regular contacts of foreign and defense chiefs, economic policy makers and experts have created favorable conditions for solid and long-term partnership between the two countries, he said.
The most acute issues of the world politics will dominate the meetings, Prikhodko said. The discussions will focus on search for adequate responses to new threats to world security and stability, better coordination of the world community's efforts in fighting terrorism, in particular in the U.N. and G-8 frameworks, and closer Russian - U.S. cooperation in fighting terrorism, he added.
The two sides will also discuss strategic offensive and defensive weapons, the Kremlin staff chief said, adding that contacts on these issues "have shown noticeable convergence of the positions of the two countries on deep cuts of strategic offensive weapons."
Stressing the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty "is playing a key role in the system of security and disarmament agreements," Prikhodko noted the two sides might have widely diverging views on the issue.
Key international and regional issues such as the Middle East situation will also come up for discussion, above all in terms of coordinating efforts aimed at ending violence and normalizing the situation in the region, Prikhodko said.
The Balkan situation and the outlook for the Russian - NATO relations will also be discussed, he added.
As to economic cooperation, Prikhodko said special attention would be given to Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, the granting of the status of a market economy to Russia and intensification of the business dialogue.
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