Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will depart on Monday on a five-day visit to North and South America to attend two international summits and discuss bilateral ties with Argentina.
NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON
On the first leg of his tour, President Medvedev will attend a nuclear security summit in Washington on April 12-13.
The two-day global conference on nuclear security will focus on the vulnerability of stockpiles of nuclear materials and securing them against the threat of terrorist acquisition.
During the 47-nation summit, world leaders are expected to make concrete commitments to ensure that their national stocks of separated plutonium and enriched uranium are not at risk of being stolen, smuggled or sold to terrorists.
The U.S. summit comes after the signing last week of a new strategic arms reduction treaty by Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Prague.
FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARGENTINA
The Russian president will visit Argentina on April 14 for the first time in the history of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In Argentina, Medvedev will meet with the country's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other top officials to discuss the development of bilateral relations in the sphere of energy and high-technology.
The sides are expected to issue a joint statement and sign a number of documents, including an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in culture and education.
Trade between Russia and Argentina has risen fivefold since 2003, reaching almost $2 billion in 2008, but fell to $1.35 last year mainly due to the global financial crisis.
BRIC SUMMIT IN BRAZIL
on April 15-16, the president will take part in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) summit in the Brazilian capital Brasilia along with Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The meeting will focus on improving the current global economic situation and strengthening cooperation between the four countries.
The BRIC group is also expected to agree on a common stance for the G20 meeting in Washington, which will take place in late April.
The leaders will also discuss the outcome of the nuclear security summit in Washington and the new nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by the Russian and U.S. presidents in Prague.
The first BRIC summit was held in the Russian Urals town of Yekaterinburg in June, 2009. The leaders issued a declaration calling for the establishment of a multi-polar world order.
MOSCOW, April 12 (RIA Novosti)
