SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 29 - 30 MARCH

Press Release
SG/T/2127

SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 29 - 30 MARCH

The Secretary-General arrived in Moscow from Geneva in the afternoon of Sunday, 29 March. He was met at the airport by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yuri Ushakov.

He toured the Tretyakov Gallery of Russian Art. Later, in the evening, he was the dinner guest of Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, who later presented him, on behalf of President Boris Yeltsin, the Commemorative Medal of the 850th anniversary of the City of Moscow. After dinner, the Mayor accompanied the Secretary-General to the new underground plaza, Manezh, where he was warmly welcomed by crowds of Muscovites.

On Monday morning, the Secretary-General met with President Yeltsin. They discussed the situation in Iraq in depth, and also the Middle East peace process, the situation in Kosovo, and the situation of ethnic Russians in Latvia, on which the Secretary-General said he would raise the issue with Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Secretary-General then met with Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, with whom he discussed the Iraqi situation in greater detail. They also had an in-depth discussion of the Kosovo problem, the Middle East peace process, the Libya sanctions connected with the Lockerbie incident, Georgia, Tajikistan and the status of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in light of the events in Kosovo. The Secretary-General and Mr. Primakov also discussed other matters, including the issue of pension rights of former Russian United Nations staff members. Following their meeting, the two men gave a brief joint press conference.

He then met with Gennady Seleznev, Speaker of the Duma, after which he addressed about 100 leading members of the Duma and heard responses from a number of them. (See Press Release SG/SM/6509 for the text of his speech.)

In the later afternoon, he visited the United Nations House in Moscow, which houses the offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other United Nations agencies, where he addressed international and local staff.

The Secretary-General and his party left Moscow for Beijing that evening.

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