Russian and Norwegian Foreign Ministers to discuss situation surrounding Iraq

The Foreign Ministers of Russia and Norway, Igor Ivanov and Jan Petersen, during their negotiations in Moscow on Thursday will discuss bilateral relations and will also compare their positions on key regional and international issues. The official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that special attention would be paid to strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the sphere of nuclear and radiation security and to military-ecological cooperation in the Arctic.

In particular, they will discuss the progress of the negotiations on drafting an agreement on a multilateral nuclear-ecological programme in the Russian Federation and an inter-governmental agreement on military-ecological cooperation in the Arctic.

The Norwegian ambassador in Moscow, Oyvind Nordsletten told RIA Novosti that the ministers would concentrate their attention on the situation surrounding Iraq and in the Middle East, and also on relations between Russia and NATO and the fight against international terrorism.

Moscow attaches great importance to the dialogue between Russia and Norway, Europe's biggest producers and exporters of oil and gas, the dialogue which concerns energy issues, especially the price policy.

According to official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko, the priority spheres of joint efforts include the development of oil and gas deposits, modernisation of Russian ship-building yards, fish processing enterprises, port facilities and the pharmaceutical industry.