US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to travel next week to four European capitals for crucial talks on security, arms control, terrorism and the future of Afghanistan, the State Department said Monday.
Powell is to visit Bucharest, Brussels, Ankara and Moscow on the December 3 to 10 trip, the department said in a statement that did not give his exact itinerary.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said additional stops "will be announced later" and diplomatic sources have said Powell is likely to stop in at least one Central Asian capital.
"Cooperation in the (US-led anti-terrorism) coalition is going to be an important part of his discussions," Boucher said. "Immediate- and long-term questions involving Afghanistan, obviously, will be part of that.
"Assistance and support for reconstruction of Afghanistan will be an important part of it and then there's a whole lot of NATO business to discuss with key allies like Turkey, as well as the allies that we meet at NATO."
Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live" program, Powell told he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
"We'll talk about many things: the strategic framework that President Putin and President Bush have discussed with respect to strategic weapons, and I'm sure we'll be talking about missile defense as well. I'd like to explore other parts of our agenda as well: a campaign against terrorism, economic issues, regional security issues," Powell said.
In Bucharest, Powell will be attending of foreign ministers and senior officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held in the Romanian capital on December 3 and 4, the department said.
In Brussels, he is to participate in meetings with officials from the European Union and NATO, including from alliance partners Russia and Ukraine, it said.
A NATO foreign ministers meeting is scheduled in the Belgian capital for December 6 and 7.
"In Turkey and Russia, the secretary will be consulting with coalition partners about the war on terrorism," the statement said.
It added that Powell would also focus on "recasting" US relationships with European countries and push continued democracy building and human rights protection.
Powell's talks in Russia are likely to also concentrate on the issue of arms control and Moscow's opposition to US plans for a national missile shield, most recently discussed last month by presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin.
Turkey, the only predominantly Muslim country in NATO, has emerged as a key ally for the United States in the anti-terrorism war, and while there Powell is expected to follow up on Ankara's offer to provide troops to a potential peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
Another important topic on the agenda would be Turkey's opposition to the European Union's plans to establish a rapid reaction force with direct access to NATO assets, a Turkish government official said earlier in Ankara.
That official said Powell would be in Ankara on December 4 and 5.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2001)
