Russian Foreign Minister Holds Talks With US State Secretary

At a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Igor Ivanov, Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, is going to raise the problem of building up the Russia-US anti-terrorist effort with regard to latest developments in Afghanistan. The Russian minister said this when opening the meeting on Monday. Moscow and Washington can contribute a great deal to the settlement of crises across the world, primarily in the Middle East, Balkans and the Persian Gulf, said Ivanov. A major area of Russo-American interaction, according to Ivanov, is the disarmament and non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. The two officials are also expected to discuss new patterns of their countries' partnership, among other things considering available agreements on essential cuts in their strategic offensive arsenals. Characteristic of current relations between Russia and the US is intensification of a multi-level dialogue, said the Russian foreign minister. Our presidents' Ljubljana, Genoa, Shanghai meetings, and particularly Vladimir Putin's visit to the USA, brought forth a range of principled decisions on the development of bilateral relations in every area, emphasized Igor Ivanov.