Russian Foreign Minister And US Secretary Of State To Hold Talks On Preparation Of Putin-Bush Summit

On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will arrive in Washington where he will hold talks on Thursday with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the questions of preparation of the upcoming meeting between presidents of the USA and Russia George Bush and Vladimir Putin. Spokesman for the US Department of State Richard Boucher said this at a Monday briefing in Washington. According to him, the talks between Ivanov and Powell will prepare the forthcoming meetings between Vladimir Putin and George Bush in Washington and at the US president's rancho in Texas and will touch upon "the whole spectrum" of Russian-US relations. Boucher also said that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will stay in Moscow on Thursday to participate in the work of the Russian-US working group on combating the threat of terrorism emanating from the territory of Afghanistan. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov is the Russian co-chairman of the group.