PACE summer session promises to be 'not difficult' for Russia - MP.

STRASBOURG, June 21 (Itar-Tass) - The summer session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that opens on Monday
promises to be "not difficult" from the point of view of Russian
interests, the head of the Russian delegation to PACE, parliamentarian
Konstantin Kosachev, said.
The report on human rights violations in the North Caucasus will be
the central theme for Moscow. It was prepared by Swiss politician Dick
Marty after his trips to Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. In the
framework of the discussions Ingush President Yunusbek Yevkurov will
deliver a speech.
According to the report, "in the Chechen Republic, the current
authorities continue to maintain a generalised climate of fear,
notwithstanding the undeniable successes in the sphere of reconstruction
and the distinct improvement of the region's infrastructures...
Nevertheless, the human rights situation and the functioning of justice
and democratic institutions continue to give cause for the gravest
concern..."
Nevertheless, the Russian delegation supports the report on the North
Caucasus.
"The report turned out to be rather honest and well-balanced, it takes
into account amendments made by the Russian delegation," said the first
deputy head of the State Duma international affair committee, Leonid
Slutsky.
Among other issues on the PACE agenda are Islamophobia in Europe and
the state of European democracy.
Kosachev did not rule out that the humanitarian situation in
Kyrgyzstan can be put on an urgent debate.



.Lavrov to discuss European security at Minsk talks.

MOSCOW, June 21 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
begins his working visit to Minsk on Monday to hold talks with his
Belarussian counterpart Sergei Martynov on June 22.
It is expected that the Belarussian president will also receive the
Russian diplomat.
High on the agenda will be pressing issues of regional and European
security, the Russian Foreign Ministry's information department told
Itar-Tass.
The parties will also focus on "prospects for translating into
practice Russia's initiative to conclude a European security treaty."
"First of all, the talks will focus on cooperation within the EurAsEC
and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, including that in the
context of the creation of the Customs Union and a single economic space,"
the source said.
Lavrov will also synchronize watches with his Belarussian counterparts
on the agenda of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.
"We hope for further constructive cooperation on the UN platform in
social, economic, humanitarian and environmental issues, as well as in
security and crisis settlement, especially taking into account the
creation of the CSTO's peacekeeping potential," the source said.
At the talks much attention will be paid to "cooperation within the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe
and other international and regional organizations."
The ministers will also coordinate the date of the next meeting of
collegiums of the two countries' foreign ministries. This format "is one
of the elements to coordinate joint efforts on the international scene."
The diplomatic sources did not rule out that the talks will also touch
upon the situation in Kyrgyzstan. Russia takes efforts to stabilize the
situation in the Central Asian Republic. In particular, at the Russian
president's initiative urgent consultations that brought together Security
Council secretaries of the CSTO member-states took place. Russia's
Emergencies Ministry sends humanitarian consignments to Bishkek and helps
to take victims of interethnic clashes to hospitals. Belarus granted
political asylum to Kyrgyz ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and refused the
request of the republic's interim government to extradite him.
The visit of the Russian foreign minister will take place against the
backdrop of the two countries' gas dispute that emerged over Minsk's 192
million dollar debt to Gazprom. Gazprom warns it would reduce gas supplies
to Belarus by 85 percent beginning from 10:00 Moscow time on Monday.



.Dnepr booster to bring Germany's sat into space from Baikonur.

MOSCOW, June 21 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Dnepr booster rocket will bring
into space Germany's new Earth observation satellite TanDEM-X from the
Baikonur cosmodrome on Monday.
The launch is scheduled for 06:14 Moscow time, the Russian federal
space agency Roscosmos said.
Cosmotras Company that organizes the launches of Dnepr brings
together Russian and Ukrainian enterprises. At present, a Dnepr booster
rocket that was converted from the world's biggest intercontinental
ballistic missile known as the SS-18 Satan carried out 14 successful
launches and brought 50 satellites into space.
Dnept boosters are launched from three silos at the Baikonur
cosmodrome and for commercial purposes - from a silo at the launching pad
in Yasny, the Orenburg region.

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