Lavrov Informs Putin On Visits Of Presidents, UN Secretary General

LAVROV INFORMS PUTIN ON VISITS OF PRESIDENTS, UN SECRETARY GENERAL

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Oct 30 2006

MOSCOW, October 30 (Itar-Tass) – The presidents of Armenia, Angola
and Egypt, as well as the South Korean foreign minister elected UN
secretary general will visit Moscow this week, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

"We shall have full top level political contacts," he said.

The agenda of the president’s talks with the Armenian leader on Monday
would centre on trade and economic contacts, energy and transport.

"We expect that issues of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement within the
framework of the proposals put forward by you at the meeting with
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be discussed," Lavrov
said, adding that the "situation in the Transcaucasus as a whole will
be reviewed".

"Tomorrow is a main day of the Angolan president’s visit. It is
planned to sign a whole number of bilateral documents at the level
of the government between ministries and companies. We hope that
this visit will help a more active implementation of the policy of
interaction with Africa that you have laid down by the recent visits
to this continent," Lavrov said.

The state visit of the Egyptian president to Russia this week is
expected to have a "rich bilateral agenda".

"You visited Egypt a year and a half ago, and the regular contacts with
the leader of this leading Arab country will allow paying attention
to problems of Middle East settlement in the light of Russia’s latest
initiatives," Lavrov said.

He said that "the foreign minister of the Republic of Korea, who has
been elected UN secretary general and will take office on January 1,
2007, will visit Moscow this week".

"We know him well, and it is important that he visits Moscow among
first capitals," Lavrov stressed.

He said the visit "will provide a possibility to discuss the role
of the UN as a centre of collective decision making and collective
actions to resolve international problems".