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Medvedev to discuss security, visas with French, German leaders

© RIA Novosti / Go to the mediabankRussia's President Dmitry Medvedev
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev - Sputnik International
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with the leaders of France and Germany on Monday to discuss, among other things, European security and the Russia-EU visa regime.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with the leaders of France and Germany on Monday to discuss, among other things, European security and the Russia-EU visa regime.

The talks between Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Deauville, north France, will resume, after a five-year break, with a working dinner on Monday. Three-party consultations are scheduled for Tuesday morning, followed by a joint news conference.

"A three-sided meeting is not an exclusive club to work out decisions separately from other states, but rather a convenient format for discussing our common vision in a trustful, frank atmosphere with our closest partners in Europe," Medvedev's Aide Sergei Prikhodko said.

Prikhodko said Russia wants to promote Medvedev's European security treaty initiative.

Medvedev proposed drawing up a new European security pact in June 2008, and Russia published a draft of the treaty in December 2009, sending copies to heads of state and international organizations, including NATO. However, the proposal has been met coolly by Western powers.

Prikhodko also said the introduction of an eased visa regime between Russia and the EU would be among the key issues on the agenda.

"The first issue that we want to put forward will be the eased procedure of visa issuance and the introduction of advanced methods in data processing," the Kremlin official said.

He did not rule out that Russia may raise the question of scrapping its visa regime with the EU, which has become a major foreign policy goal in Moscow's relations with Brussels.

Russia submitted a draft agreement on scrapping visa requirements to the EU at the Russia-EU summit in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on May 31.

Prikhodko said that energy issues, Iran's controversial nuclear program, as well as Russia-NATO and Russia-EU cooperation would also be discussed at the meeting.

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti)

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