Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts, including the Chinese and Brazilian presidents, Hu Jintao and Dilma Rousseff, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in France’s Cannes on Thursday, presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
The Russian president will arrive in Cannes late on Wednesday. Medvedev hopes to meet with other leaders of the BRICS countries (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) on the same day to discuss economic issues, including problems facing the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund reform, reserve accumulation mechanisms, and the completion of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks, as well as climate change, Prikhodko said.
Bilateral meetings with French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon may also take place during the summit, he added.
During a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, the third in the past year, Medvedev plans to discuss the broadening of Russian-Chinese bilateral relations, including trade ties and humanitarian cooperation, Prikhodko said. Russian-Chinese trade turnover is likely to reach a record of $70 billion by the end of the year, he added.
The two leaders will also exchange their opinions on the global economic and financial situation. Developments in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as the North Korean nuclear issue, may also be discussed, the presidential aide said.
Year 2011 marks the 10th anniversary since the signing of the Russian-Chinese Treaty of Friendship.
Cooperation within the G20, as well as in the investment, space, aircraft construction and energy spheres will be in the focus of Medvedev’s talks with his Brazilian colleague, the second in the past year, Prikhodko said.
The two leaders may also touch upon military and technical cooperation between Russia and Brazil – Moscow’s “reliable strategic partner in the G20, United Nations Security Council and BRICS ” – during their meeting, he added.
Brazil is Russia’s main Latin American trade partner. The two countries’ bilateral trade reached $4.8 billion in the first eight months of 2011, a 23-percent increase year-on-year, and is likely to reach its historic maximum of $7 billion in 2011.