Chris Patten To Meet Igor Ivanov During Moscow Visit

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is due to meet member of the EU commission Chris Patten on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry's press and information department has reported. Ivanov and Patten plan to discuss co-operation issues between the EU and Russia and exchange opinions about the further expansion of political dialogue in relation to the formation of a European security and defence policy. The sides will also consider problems of interaction between Russia and the EU on the international arena, including the fight against international terrorism. Issues connected with the situation in the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan are also expected to be on the agenda. The Russian Foreign Ministry (MID) also announced that particular attention would be paid to the consequences of European Union enlargement, especially the problem of Russia's semi-enclave on the Baltic, the Kaliningrad region. Chris Patten is visiting Moscow to take part in the first meeting of a joint high-level group, which is working to draw up a concept of a common European economic space.