British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw arrives in Moscow on a two-day working visit to Russia on Tuesday.

The situation around Iraq will be one of the main items on the agenda of his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said.

"The soonest authentic return of sovereignty to legitimate representatives of the Iraqi people, normalization and reconstruction in Iraq are the priorities," the official said.

The parties will discuss bilateral cooperation in chemical disarmament and the disposal of Russian decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines. The United Kingdom said it would assign $750 million under the Global Partnership initiative, and that 80% of the funds would go to Russia,

"Cooperation with the EU in environmental protection and climatic control is also on the agenda," according to the offial. "Russia is studying the Kyoto Protocol's possible effect on the national social and economic development."

In addition, "discussions will focus on joint anti-terrorist measures, primarily in the bilateral anti-terrorist working group that will have its next session in early autumn," the diplomat said.

Jack Straw will meet with Russia's Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov. Russia and Britain closely cooperate in the military sphere; an active exchange of delegations and mutual calls by warships are underway, and take place.

Britain helps Russia train discharged servicemen for civilian jobs.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov plans to visit Britain on July 11-13.

Bilateral cooperation in G8, which Russia will chair after the United Kingdom in 2006, will be another item on the agenda of talks.

Source: Itar-Tass