U.S. President Barack Obama and First
Lady Michelle Obama walk to board the Marine One helicopter on the South
Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, en route to Andrews Air Force
Base to leave for Russia. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan) Photo Gallery>>>
WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack
Obama on Sunday left for Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart
Dmitri Medvedev in a bid to "reset" U.S. relations with Russia. He will then
head to Italy for the G8 summit and visit Ghana.
President Obama, accompanied by his family members
and senior administration officials, will arrive in Moscow on Monday, his
advisers told reporters on Wednesday at a press briefing.
In Moscow, Obama will have "a private and a working
meeting" with Medvedev. He will also have breakfast with Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The U.S.-Russia summit is expected to focus on
reducing stockpile of nuclear weapons, cooperating on non-proliferation and
resolving differences over U.S. planned missile defense system in Europe. The
two leaders will also discuss the latest development in Iran after the recent
presidential election, Russia's bid to enter the World Trade Organization,
U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan.
U.S. President Barack Obama and First
Lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia walk to board the Marine One
helicopter on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, en
route to Andrews Air Force Base to leave for Russia. (Xinhua/Zhang
Yan) Photo
Gallery>>>
Before leaving for Rome on Wednesday morning, Obama
will also give a speech at the New Economic School on U.S.-Russia relations and
meet some Russia political and business leaders.
Looking for Russia's cooperation on dealing with
challenges, such as financial crisis, non-proliferation, climate change and
terrorism, the Obama administration has vowed to "press the reset button" with
Moscow through more bilateral strategic cooperation and conversation.
In Rome, Obama will meet Italian President Giorgio
Napolitano and other political leaders before he goes to L'Aquila for the G8
summit, G8-plus-5 meeting and a series of important bilateral meetings,
including a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The current global financial crisis, climate change
and clean energy are expected to top the agenda for the G8 summit.
Before leaving for Accra, Ghana, on Friday night,
Obama will also visit the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.
In Accra, President Obama will hold a series of
meetings with Ghana's political leaders and make a speech in the Ghanaian
parliament on U.S. policy toward Africa.
Obama will return from Accra to Washington on
Saturday night.
MOSCOW, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev reiterated the interrelation between the strategic arms
reduction talks and the U.S. missile defense plan in an interview published on
Sunday.
"We believe that these topics are interrelated and for
understandable reasons," Medvedev said in the interview with the Italian media,
which was published on the Kremlin website. Full story
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S.
President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev have attached
great importance to the U.S.-Russian summit due next week, White House spokesman
Robert Gibbs said on Wednesday.
During their telephone conversation on Tuesday, Obama
and Medvedev discussed issues set to dominate their summit, including bilateral
effort to reach a deal on the reduction of nuclear weapons, Gibbs told a news
briefing. Full story
