BRUSSELS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is to travel to Washington on Friday to discuss Afghanistan and the upcoming Riga summit, the NATO headquarters announced on Thursday.

    De Hoop Scheffer is expected to meet U.S. President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and other officials.

    The discussions will center on NATO's ongoing operations, especially in Afghanistan, and the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, next month, said the NATO headquarters.

    The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan took over authority of the east of the country from the U.S.-led coalition at the beginning of the month, putting 12,000 coalition troops, mainly Americans, under NATO command.

    The Riga summit is another hot topic between the NATO chief and the Americans as the summit is tasked to make decisions that would give orientation to the transatlantic alliance's role in the 21st century.

    De Hoop Scheffer is now in Moscow for a visit. He was scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, Secretary of the Security Council Igor Ivanov and other officials.

    Before his trip to Moscow, the secretary general visited Berlin, where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung.