The Taoiseach will visit Russia this autumn, probably in September, it was announced in Dublin yesterday during the visit of Russia's Foreign Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov.
At a press conference Mr Primakov said he looked forward to Mr Ahern's visit and to improved trade between the two countries. He was confident that "no serious obstacles would stand in the way of importing Irish beef to Russia".
In a meeting yesterday with Mr Primakov, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, is understood to have put a strong emphasis on Irish efforts to prevent the spread of BSE.
Irish and Russian veterinary officials are due to meet in September to review the restrictions on imports of beef from certain counties. Mr Andrews said he was hopeful these constraints can be eased following that meeting. After the UK and Egypt, Russia is the third-largest importer of Irish beef.
Mr Primakov will meet the President, Mrs McAleese, at Aras an Uachtarain this morning and will have talks with Mr Ahern in Government Buildings before making a short trip to Glendalough, Co Wicklow.
He will then travel to Birmingham for a foreign ministers' meeting of the G-8, the grouping of the world's seven advanced industrial nations and Russia.
The talks in Dublin yesterday between Mr Andrews and Mr Primakov - to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union - included discussions on the situation in Kosovo, the Middle East peace process and what Mr Primakov described as "the discriminatory manifestations that have been seen in respect of the Russian-speaking population in Latvia". Tension between Russia and Latvia has risen following the participation of senior Latvian army and police officials in a march to commemorate an anniversary of Latvian participation in the Nazi SS, explosions near the Russian embassy and at a synagogue in Riga and the rough treatment by police of Russian-speaking pensioners at a demonstration in the Latvian capital.
It had been hoped that recent proposed amendments to Latvia's citizenship laws might start a dialogue towards progress in relations between Russia and the newly-independent Baltic country but Mr Primakov was entirely dismissive of such expectations yesterday.
"The progress that has taken place has been minimal and insufficient and this minimal and insufficient progress has not been ratified by parliament," Mr Primakov said.
In Kosovo, Mr Primakov said, Russia favoured "a certain form of self-government", but this would have to be within the framework of the territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia.
While wishing the Middle East talks every success, he did not wish to make any statement that would complicate the matter. Syria's role in the process should not, he added, be overlooked.
Mr Primakov thanked Mr Andrews for the response to a request by President Yeltsin for western countries to help train young Russian business managers. While in Moscow Mr Ahern is expected to sign bilateral agreements with the Russian Federation on fighting crime and drug-trafficking.
