French Premier Arrives In Moscow For Official Visit

On Monday, French Premier Lionel Jospin is arriving in Moscow for an official visit. The French delegation to Moscow includes Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, Justice Minister Marylise Lebranchu, Minister of the Interior Daniel Vaillant, Minister of Science and Technologies Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg and a delegation of French businessmen featuring the presidents of Air France, Alcatel and other leading enterprises and companies. On Monday Jospin will have negotiations with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. The meeting will be followed by a session of the Russo-French seminar on bilateral cooperation on the level of ministers. Last time such a seminar was held in December 2000 when Mikhail Kasyanov was staying in Paris. On October 23 Lionel Jospin is expected to hold Kremlin negotiations with President Vladimir Putin. Tomorrow in the afternoon, the French Prime Minister will visit the Moscow-region Mission Control Centre to take part in a communication session with French astronaut Claudie Haignere who left for the International Space Station on board the Russian Soyuz spaceship. Late on Tuesday the French Premier will leave the Russian capital. According to Denis Delbourg, the Diplomatic Counsellor of the French Premier, Lionel Jospin has left for Moscow "with a great desire to give a considerable impetus to bilateral political and economic relations in the light of a new geostrategic situation after the September 11th terror attacks on the USA."