Medvedev to meet Obama in Washington: Lavrov

Moscow, Nov 6 (UNI) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet US President-elect Barack Obama in Washington, in mid-November, Foreign Ministry said.

''We hope that the principles and interaction areas formulated in the Sochi Declaration will ensure the continuity in our relations,'' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here yesterday.

''There is a basis to believe that contact between President Medvedev and the US president-elect will happen in the course of the summit of the G-20 in Washington. We shall be open for this mutually respectful, honest and responsible dialogue,'' Mr Lavrov told Interfax news agency.

''We shall build our relations with the US on equal basis as we have repeatedly proposed, and as it is recorded in the Sochi Declaration that was approved by George Bush and Vladimir Putin in April, '' the Minister said.

''The importance of this declaration was confirmed by President Medvedev in his contacts with the US leadership,'' he added.

The Sochi Declaration contains a programme of action looking into the future, Mr Lavrov informed.

It puts down the principles of interaction - equality, mutual benefits, taking into account each other's interests, and concrete forms of our cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organised crime as well economic cooperation and a common contribution to economic sustainability, he pointed out.

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