His meetings with Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Yuri Baluyevsky in Moscow are planned. Mr. Jones is expected to meet also with head of the security and defence committee of the Federation Council Viktor Ozerov.
Interaction of Russia and the alliance within the Russia-NATO Council will dominate the talks. According to RIA Novosti's information, joint efforts of Moscow and Brussels to counter international terrorism will be a key theme at the meetings.
An emergency meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of Ambassadors was held at the NATO headquarters on the day before. A joint statement, in which the Council members condemned the terrorist acts in Russia in the toughest form, was adopted following the meeting.
These acts launch a direct challenge to our common security,
the common democratic values, and the basic rights and freedoms of man, the document reads. No purpose which could justify these acts exists, the statement says.
The participants in the meeting noted that the threat of terrorism is pressing for immediate and broad mobilization of all countries' forces in combating this evil. The statement points out that the Council member states are retaining determination to step up and intensify joint activity against this common threat to the peoples' security and welfare, including working out a plan of action with concrete practical measures to counter this evil.
It is the first visit of James Jones to Russia as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He will stay in Moscow till Thursday.
