UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is starting an official visit to Russia on Wednesday to hold talks with the Russian leadership and attend a Middle East Quartet meeting.

The first two days of Ban’s visit will be dedicated to discussing Russia-UN interaction. Ban told RIA Novosti prior to the visit that he would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Among other things, the UN chief will discuss prospects of cooperation with Russia, in particular, Russia’s additional participation in UN operations.

“Russia as one of the permanent members of the Security Council has been playing a primary important role in maintaining peace and security. Russia has been participating in peacekeeping operations and also providing logistical support of critical assets such as helicopters, airplanes,” he said in the RIA Novosti interview.

“This is what we would expect. I have been discussing this matter with the president and foreign minister whether the Russian government could provide critical assets for the peacekeeping operation in Darfur and elsewhere,” Ban said.

The UN secretary general will also meet with professors and students from MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations), as well as with academicians and businessmen.

On March 19, Ban will attend a meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Moscow, to also be attended by Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the EU’s chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, Quartet envoy Tony Blair and U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell.

The meeting of the Quartet of international mediators in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is made up of Russia, the UN, the United States and the European Union.

The meeting will take place at a crucially important moment for the Middle East, with the real opportunity to resume indirect Palestino-Israeli talks following the Arab League’s decision in March and its approval by the Israeli government.

The Quartet is likely to once again condemn the construction of new Jewish settlements on Palestinian territories.

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (RIA Novosti)