Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is to begin a six day tour of European countries on 22 November taking in Poland, Germany and Austria, the Russian Interfax agency said on Saturday.
Ivanov will be in Vienna for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), scheduled for 27 and 28 November, Interfax said, citing diplomatic sources.
Before that he will visit Warsaw, where he is expected to hold talks with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski about a controversial Russian plan for a gas pipeline linking Russia and Poland.
Kwasniewski has often expressed reservations about the project, as the pipeline is set to bypass Ukraine, a country with which Poland has good relations.
Ivanov is then scheduled to head for Berlin, where he is expected to prepare the ground with his German counterpart Joshka Fischer for a visit to Moscow by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder next January.
Interfax said Ivanov may take advantage of the OSCE meeting in Vienna to hold talks with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright – MOSCOW (AFP)
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