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Moscow turns into a VIP-zone
by Lyudmila Romanova
Russica Izvestia Information Inc.
RusData Dialine - Russian Press Digest
May 6, 2005 Friday
Numerous high-profile international meetings to take place in
Moscowin the next few days
Moscow will become the center of global diplomacy for the next few
days, writes Gazeta. On May 8 a meeting of the CIS member countries'
leaders will take place here, followed by arrival of numerous foreign
leaders, attending May 9 Victory Day festivities and a Russia-EU
summit on May 10.
The CIS summit, the paper writes, is an informal one and has no
practical issues on its agenda. The post-Soviet leaders will convene
just to remember common history. They will meet with World War II
veterans, lay wreaths at the Unknown Soldier grave and attend a Victory
Day concert in the Bolshoi Theatre. However, Gazeta presumes, it will
be hard for the CIS leaders to forget the Commonwealth's problems and
ignore its role as merely a civilized instrument of the post-Soviet
nations' "divorce".
Additionally, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia won't visit the
summit. Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev stated he doesn't want to meet
with Armenia's Robert Kocharyan in Moscow, while Saakashvili refuses
to come to Moscow until Russia and Georgia agree on a joint statement
on the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the Georgian soil.
On May 9 56 leaders of foreign countries and international
organizations will take part in the festivities commemorating the Nazi
Germany's defeat in the WWII. The Russian President Vladimir Putin
will also conduct a number of bilateral meetings, among them with the
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Chinese President Hu Jintao,
Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, French President Jacques Chirac, German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the U.S. President George W. Bush.
The talks with Bush will begin already on May 8 and are not expected
to be simple - the U.S. is likely to pressure Russia on the issues of
democracy and nuclear security, demanding access for its inspectors
to Russian nuclear facilities. Additionally, Bush reportedly wants
to discuss with Vladimir Putin the Russian President's recent trip
to the Middle East.
The key issue on the agenda of the May 10 Russia-EU summit was
announced already in the beginning of this year. During the meeting
the leaders of Russia and EU member countries are expected to sign
a comprehensive cooperation agreement and the so-called "roadmaps"
- detailed plans of cooperation in the spheres of economy, domestic
and foreign policy and the humanitarian sphere. However, the paper
remarks, five days before the summit Russian and European diplomats
haven't yet agreed on the final text of the document.
by Lyudmila Romanova
Russica Izvestia Information Inc.
RusData Dialine - Russian Press Digest
May 6, 2005 Friday
Numerous high-profile international meetings to take place in
Moscowin the next few days
Moscow will become the center of global diplomacy for the next few
days, writes Gazeta. On May 8 a meeting of the CIS member countries'
leaders will take place here, followed by arrival of numerous foreign
leaders, attending May 9 Victory Day festivities and a Russia-EU
summit on May 10.
The CIS summit, the paper writes, is an informal one and has no
practical issues on its agenda. The post-Soviet leaders will convene
just to remember common history. They will meet with World War II
veterans, lay wreaths at the Unknown Soldier grave and attend a Victory
Day concert in the Bolshoi Theatre. However, Gazeta presumes, it will
be hard for the CIS leaders to forget the Commonwealth's problems and
ignore its role as merely a civilized instrument of the post-Soviet
nations' "divorce".
Additionally, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia won't visit the
summit. Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev stated he doesn't want to meet
with Armenia's Robert Kocharyan in Moscow, while Saakashvili refuses
to come to Moscow until Russia and Georgia agree on a joint statement
on the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the Georgian soil.
On May 9 56 leaders of foreign countries and international
organizations will take part in the festivities commemorating the Nazi
Germany's defeat in the WWII. The Russian President Vladimir Putin
will also conduct a number of bilateral meetings, among them with the
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Chinese President Hu Jintao,
Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, French President Jacques Chirac, German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the U.S. President George W. Bush.
The talks with Bush will begin already on May 8 and are not expected
to be simple - the U.S. is likely to pressure Russia on the issues of
democracy and nuclear security, demanding access for its inspectors
to Russian nuclear facilities. Additionally, Bush reportedly wants
to discuss with Vladimir Putin the Russian President's recent trip
to the Middle East.
The key issue on the agenda of the May 10 Russia-EU summit was
announced already in the beginning of this year. During the meeting
the leaders of Russia and EU member countries are expected to sign
a comprehensive cooperation agreement and the so-called "roadmaps"
- detailed plans of cooperation in the spheres of economy, domestic
and foreign policy and the humanitarian sphere. However, the paper
remarks, five days before the summit Russian and European diplomats
haven't yet agreed on the final text of the document.