President's Plenipotentiary in North-West Meets New US Consul to St. Petersburg

As the press centre of the Russian President's Plenipotentiary informed, today US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow officially introduced the new US Consul to St. Petersburg, Morris Hughes, to Plenipotentiary Viktor Cherkesov. The sides also talked about technical details of the preparation for the US President's coming visit to Russia and St. Petersburg and Mr. Bush's meeting with the Russian President. The issues of the coming tercentenary of St. Petersburg were also discussed. In Mr. Ambassador's opinion the festivities would bring the US and Russia closer yet, though there has been no talk of any cooperation between St. Petersburg and his country in planning those festivities, the joint project of the State Hermitage and the Guggenheim Museum to organise the exhibition called 300 Years of American Art being the only exception. The US and Russian Presidents are expected to meet in St. Petersburg in the end of May.