Russian, US Foreign Ministers to Meet Next WeekRussian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is expected to meet with his US counterpart Colin Powell in Paris next week to further discuss "key items on the Russian-US agenda," said a Russian Foreign Ministry report Thursday.Both of the two top diplomats will stay in the French capital on April 11 to 12 for a ministerial conference of the six-nation contact group for former Yugoslavia, said the report. The conference will discuss the increasingly alarming situation in the Balkan region and search for joint ways to settle the crises. The first meeting between the two ministers took place in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on February 24, at which they showed sharp divergence over the much-lauded US deployment of national defense missile system. However, the two sides agreed to push ahead "constructive dialogues." Thursday is also the deadline for four US diplomats announced by Russia as persona non grata to leave Moscow. Russian diplomatic sources confirmed their leaving Thursday. |
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