ID :
125216
Mon, 05/31/2010 - 14:32
Auther :

Direct train Irkutsk-St Petersburg to be launched on Monday.



IRKUTSK, the Siberia, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - A new named train will
begin operation between Irkutsk, the Siberia, and St. Petersburg on Monday.
Sources at the East Siberian Railways told Itar-Tass that there had
been no direct railway links between St. Petersburg and the Far East and
Eastern Siberia before.
"The new route will run via the Trans-Siberian Railway to
Yekaterinburg and further via Perm, Kirov, Vologda and Cherepovets. The
final destination is the Ladozhsky Railway in St. Petersburg. The length
of the route one-way is 5, 465 kilometers. The travel time is three and a
half days," the Eastern Siberian Railways said.

.Medvedev, European Union officials to discuss visas.

MOSCOW, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - The cancellation of visas between Russia
and the European Union will be one of the key subjects at the 25th jubilee
Russia-EU summit in Rostov-on-the Don in southern Russia.
A high-ranking Kremlin source told Itar-Tass that reciprocal visa
restrictions produced a destructive effect on all spheres of Russia-EU
cooperation. The sides are going to discuss this problem with an aim to
consider a concrete draft project on cancellation of visa requirements.
Other topics for discussion, according to the Kremlin administration
source, include traditional issues like economics, energy, international
affairs, European security and a new basic document for cooperation.
Special attention is going to be paid to global energy security,
energy efficiency, energy-saving technologies and diversification of the
existing transit routes, including the North Stream and South Stream
projects.
The Kremlin source described the implementation of the main principles
laid down in the Kyoto protocol as one of the key topic on the summit's
agenda.
"The climatic policy can bring about tangible changes in the general
structure of world economy in a long-term perspective, including such
active participants as Russia and the European Union," the source went on
to say.
The sides are expected to consider the implementation of the "road
maps" for forming four common dimensions (economic; freedom, security and
justice; external security; scientific research and education). They've
become the chief mechanisms of cooperation between Russia and the European
Union. Negotiations continue to develop a new basic treaty that should
replace the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the
European Union that expired on December 1, 2007.
The summit's agenda will also include questions related to the
financial and economic crisis and the creation of a new architecture of
Euro-Atlantic security. The sides will also discuss urgent international
issues such as the Middle East peace process, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran'
s nuclear problem and conflicts in Europe (the Cyprus settlement, Kosovo,
the Trans-Dniester region and Georgia).
There are plans to sign an Agreement on protection of secret
information. It will contribute to establishing closer cooperation and
interaction in the field of external security.
The EU delegation to the jubilee 25th Russia-EU summit consists of the
EU President Herman van Rompay and the European Commission President Jose
Manuel Barroso.
This is going to be the first Russia-EU summit since the EU Lisbon
Treaty took force.
Russia and the European Union have been holding regular meetings since
1998. Before 2003 Moscow had been the main venue. However, the geography
began expanding later. In 2003, the leaders of Russia and the European
Union met in St. Petersburg, in 2006 - in Sochi, in 2007 - in Samara. In
2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested holding talks not only
in European Russia but also in the Urals, the Siberia and the Far East so
as "to feel Russia better." In June 2008, the European guests visited
Khanty-Mansiisk and in spring 2009 they went to Khabarovsk.
The forthcoming summit will give the European leaders a chance to get
acquainted with the Don River and the southern city of Rostov-on-the
Don. In June 2008, the European guests visited Khanty-Mansiisk
and in spring 2009 they went to Khabarovsk.

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