Russian Defence Minister to visit Ukraine

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will visit Ukraine from June 30 through July 2.

The press service of the Ukrainian defence ministry reported on Friday that defence ministers of the two countries, Yevgeny Marchuk and Sergei Ivanov plan to discuss, during their meeting, the state of and prospects for the development of bilateral military and military-technical co-operation and the use of Russian military testing ranges for training the Ukrainian air defence and air force units.

Following the negotiations it is planned to sign the Russian-Ukrainian inter-governmental agreement on the scrapping of and procedure for returning aviation equipment which is now at the two defence ministries' repair enterprises, the press service reported.

It is expected that on July 1 Sergei Ivanov will be received by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, and a meeting will be held between him and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoly Zlenko.

The delegation of the Russian defence ministry will also visit the units and formations of the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in the Crimea.