MOSCOW. Sept 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Specific measures to improve Russia-U.S. cooperation in fighting international terrorism in light of the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. are being discussed at a meeting of the Russian-U.S. working group for Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Russian and American delegations are led respectively by Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who arrived in Moscow on Wednesday morning.
The American delegation, including U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Vershbow and high-ranking military representatives, came to the meeting in at least ten automobiles, an Interfax correspondent has reported.
The meeting is being held behind closed doors. According to information Interfax has in hand, Trubnikov and Armitage will negotiate for several hours, after which the parties will likely confine themselves to issuing a joint statement summing up the outcome of the talks for the media.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov noted before the working group meeting that Russia and the U.S. should turn from comparing their standpoints to concrete steps against terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan. It is time to decide "what is to be done so that Afghanistan stops being a source of extremism, a source of different terrorist organizations," Ivanov said.
Some information indicates that the working group will also mull over Washington's preparations for military operations against Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attacks in the U.S., including the possible employment of Russian military installations in the CIS.
Russian officials have so far denied the possibility of allocating the country's military infrastructure for such purposes.
Armitage arrived in Moscow the day after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton held consultations on strategic issues in the Russian capital.
Interfax has learned that Armitage plans to depart from Moscow for Brussels on Thursday morning, to continue discussing possible joint actions to fight terrorism with Washington's allies within NATO.
The Russian-American working group was set up by a joint decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-U.S. President Bill Blinton during the July 2000 summit in Moscow, to study ways to oppose threats facing the international community as a result of the Taliban's support for terrorist activities and illegal drug trafficking.
Meetings are convened in Russia and the U.S. in turn. The last time the group gathered was in late May in Washington.