Russian and US defense ministers to discuss fates of the world in St.Petersburg

Rumsfeld is excepted in St.Petersburg to discuss security issues

Russian and US defense ministers Sergey Ivanov and Donald Rumsfeld are to discuss the bilateral working plan of the military cooperation for 2005 in St.Petersburg. The top officials will also exchange opinions on several actual military and political issues and other questions pertaining to the extension of bilateral relations in the military cooperation. The US defense secretary has already toured Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Rumsfeld is to arrive in St.Petersburg today, Itar-Tass reports.

The two officials will talk about conflicts in Georgia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Ivanov and Rumsfeld will also touch upon the situation with South Ossetia and Abkhazia republics from the conflict-regulating point of view.

The defense ministers also intend to consider strategic stability and security issues, particularly the perspectives of the ABM cooperation, the reduction of strategic offensive arms, the struggle with the international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (within the framework of the US initiative in the WMD proliferation security), the counteraction against other challenges and threats. The ministers will also consider the execution of cooperation instructions given by Russian and US presidents in Camp David in 2003.