Russia, Lebanon Talk in Preparation for Arab Summit

Yesterday Andrei Vdovin, a Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Middle East, sat for a round of talks with Lebanese President Emil Lahud and Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud. At a press conference later, Mr. Vdovin said that Russia was consulting Lebanon as the host of the coming Arab summit, the purpose of the consultations being to communicate Russia's opinion about the situation in the Middle East and her ideas of what the solutions might be. Mr. Vdovin once again stressed just how important these talks with the Lebanese President were. Both Mr. Vdovin and the Lebanese President will participate in the Arab summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28.