Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will promote the idea of a new European security treaty this week when he attends the UN General Assembly, a RIA Novosti correspondent said Tuesday.
The General Assembly”s annual ministerial session opens Tuesday amid uncertainty over the global economic outlook, continuing violence in the Middle East, concerns over Iran”s nuclear program and the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Apart from a general meeting with 27 EU foreign ministers to discuss Russia-EU relations, Lavrov will hold about a dozen bilateral meetings with the presidents of Cyprus and Philippines, and his counterparts from Albania, Norway, Bolivia, Spain, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Syria.
Prior to his arrival in New York, the Russian foreign minister made a stopover Monday in Ireland where he met with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen and Foreign Minister Michael Martin to discuss Russia-EU relations and European security.
Following talks with his Irish counterpart, Lavrov said Moscow hoped that the United States and Canada would take part in the preparation of a new European security treaty.
