MOSCOW, February 6 (AVN) - Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev is to begin his three-day official visit to Yugoslavia on Tuesday with his plane landing in Bosnia's Tuzla airport at 11.00 Moscow time (0800 GMT), a spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry told the Military News Agency.
The delegation headed by Sergeyev includes Airborne Commander Georgy Shpak, Colonel-General Valentin Korabelnikov, chief of the Defence Ministry's main intelligence department, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, chief of the Defence Ministry's main international military co-operation department, Russian military representative in NATO Colonel-General Viktor Zavarzin, Colonel-General Boris Alekseyev, chief of the Defence Ministry's ecological security office, and Major-General Alexander Popov, deputy Airborne troops commander in charge of peacekeeping.
The visit's aim is to hold negotiations with Yugoslav military and military-political leadership. Moreover, the Russian delegation will visit Russian peacekeeping troops both in Bosnia and Kosovo to be briefed on the situation in the units, and assess the state of things in their respective areas of responsibility. Sergeyev also plans meetings with the SFOR command, US brigade command in Tuzla, and the KFOR commander.
The Belgrade leg of Sergeyev's tour will feature talks with newly appointed Yugoslav Defence Minister Slobodan Krapovic and Chief-of-Staff Neboisa Pavkovic. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is expected to meet Sergeyev too.
Issues to be discussed during the visit are related to Russia's Balkans policy in the context of changes that have taken place in Yugoslavia in the past years, as well as military-technical co-operation and settlement prospects for the Kosovo crisis.