State Council on Wednesday Will Discuss the Foreign Policy of Russia

The State Council will meet on Wednesday in the Kremlin under the chairmanship of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Only one item is on the agenda - Russia's foreign policy. The reports on this topic will be delivered by the head of the working group of the State Council, president of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov.

The day before, the report of the working group was discussed at a session of the presidium of the State Council. Addressing the session, Vladimir Putin outlined the questions which have to be more widely discussed at the State Council session and set the task to the bodies of authority at all levels. The common task, according to the head of state, is "to strengthen the positions of Russia in the world and to build-up Russia's foreign-policy and economic resource in the world." In this sphere, the President said, it is necessary to act in a consolidated manner according to a common programme, feeling the elbow of one another." Only in this case, believes the head of the state, "we shall be able to uphold our national interests and global stability interests." And finally, said Vladimir Putin, it is necessary to take into consideration "the growing importance of the Russian factor in the world affairs." Vladimir Putin believes that it is necessary to "analyse at the State Council session the problems the regions are facing in the sphere of foreign-political contacts, above all, the problems of a legal, organisational and methodological nature." According to the head of state, it is necessary to find out what can be done by the Federal Centre, the administration of the President, the President, the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "in order to support the regions' initiatives aimed at accomplishing the national tasks in the sphere of international activity.

The working group of the State Council also calls for developing foreign contacts of the Russian regions. Talking with reporters, the group's head Alexander Dzasokhov qualified the issues of foreign economic and international humanitarian cooperation of the Russian regions as key ones in the country's foreign-policy activity.

Apart from that, the working group suggested the leadership of the country and the governors discuss the inter-connection of the foreign-policy activity and inner political tasks of Russia. According to Alexander Dzasokhov, the members of the working group tried to find "additional realistic possibilities for creating favourable foreign conditions which would contribute to the solution of the internal political and social-economic problems."