Working Group Of Russian Federation Council And U.S. Senate To Hold Consultations On Terrorism

The working group of the Russian Federation Council and U.S. Senate has stated the necessity to hold consultations between Russia and the United States on terrorism to revise and upgrade approaches on security provision and opposing new threats. This is mentioned in a joint statement summing up the first meeting of the working group, which was held in Washington on Thursday. A delegation of the Russian Federation Council and a group of American senators, representing both the Republicans and the Democrats, participated in the meeting. At a press conference in the American capital, Head of the Federation Group in the Upper House of the Russian Parliament Valery Goreglyad and Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin recommended last January that direct permanent contacts between the Russian and American senators be established. Mr. Putin thought such contacts would lead to the improvement of dialogue between legislators of the two countries and help Russian and U.S. legislators do away with "remnants of the cold war" which hinder normal trade, economic, and political ties between the two countries. Russian legislators said that several meetings, exchanges, and projects will be carried out within the framework of the working group which will now meet regularly in turn in Moscow and in Washington. For instance, a Russian-American conference on destruction of chemical weapons stockpile will be held. The proposal to hold the conference was delivered by a member of the working group, member of the U.S. Senate Committee on International Affairs, and powerful Republican senator Richard Lugar.