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US, Russian Foreign Ministers to Meet in Cairo
US Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Cairo next week, State Department announced Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "The secretary 's meeting with Foreign Minister Ivanov will take place in Cairo on the 24th of February."
"Obviously, they're going to discuss the concepts involved with national missile defense. He will make clear in his discussions that we think defense needs to be a part of the strategic concept, as well as issues of offensive missiles, nonproliferation," Boucher said.
"I'm sure they will want to discuss all those areas that relate to safety, for both our governments, for both our countries, for both our peoples," he said.
In Moscow, Ivanov said that at the meeting with Powell he intended to begin a direct dialogue on a whole array of problems, including the increasingly tense dispute between the Kremlin and Washington over arms control issues.
Moscow has vehemently opposed the US plan, saying that the system would go against the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which the Kremlin describes as a cornerstone of world stability.
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