Israeli opposition leader to begin visit to Moscow.

MOSCOW, October 28 (Itar-Tass) - Israeli parliamentary opposition
leader, Tzipi Livni, is due to make a brief working visit to Moscow,
spokespeople for the Israeli embassy told Itar-Tass.

"She will hold a range of meetings with Russian officials Wednesday,"
a spokesman said, declining to make any detailed comments on the issue.
Well-connected sources said, in the meantime, Livni's itinerary in
Moscow includes a working lunch with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and
consultations with Mikhail Margelov, who chairs the foreign policy
committee in the upper house of Russian parliament.
"Ms Livni, the head of Kadima Party is a member of a foreign policy
committee in the Israeli Knesset," the source said.
"It's expected that Middle East peace settlement, a possibility of
nuclear threat from Iran and Russian-Israeli bilateral relations will
dominate the discussions in Moscow," he said.
"Also, Ms Livni and her Russian interlocutors are likely to discuss
the Richard Goldstone commission's report that speaks of the signs of war
crimes in the Gaza Strip, as well as the impact the document may have on
the peace process in the region," the source said.
Livni also plans contacts with representatives of the Russian Jewish
community, which is a traditional part of all visits to Russia by Israeli
politicians and statesmen.
"They are going to meet at the Israeli Cultural Center on Taganka
Square," a well-informed source said.
In addition, Livni will have an opportunity to address the audiences
of the Echo of Moscow liberal radio to present the Israeli opposition's
viewpoints and to answer listeners' questions.

.Orthodox Church in America says no contacts with self-proclaimed Kiev
patriarch.

WASHINGTON, October 28 (Itar-Tass) - Orthodox Church in America /OCA/
has no plans for opening dialogue with the self-proclaimed Kiev Patriarch
Filaret who is making a visit to the U.S., the Reverend Andrew Jarmus, OCA'
s official spokesman told Itar-Tass Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Filaret, who stands at the head of the so-called
Ukrainian Orthodox Church reporting to Kiev Patriarchate, said in a speech
at the Kennan Institute in Washington OCA hierarchs showed reluctance to
meet with him.
He said he would be glad to meet with them in America but it was they
who did not want to communicate with him and not vice versa.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church reporting to Kiev Patriarchate is one of
the two dissenting Orthodox denominations in Ukraine. It has not been
recognized by any of the fifteen local /national/ Orthodox Churches of the
world.
Filaret, who used to have the status of a metropolitan in the Russian
Orthodox Church, has excommunicated for his role in promulgating the split
in the Orthodox Christian community in Ukraine.
The Rev Jarmus told Itar-Tass there have been no official requests on
Filaret's part for organizing a meeting with him, but even if OCA had
received a request of this kind, it would have never made any contacts
with the dissenting hierarch without securing consent from the canonical
Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He indicated that OCA recognizes the canonical legality of only one
Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which reports to Moscow Patriarchate and enjoys
an autonomy granted to it.
According to the Rev Jarmus, OCA is open for dialogue with anyone but
the problem is what subject and character the discussions should have.
In the light of it, any such dialogue is impossible without
consultations with the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its ruling
hierarch, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and all Ukraine.
Filaret's contacts in the U.S. do not confine to the disciples of the
breakaway Church he presides over.
He has had meetings with officials from the U.S. Department of State,
the National Security Council, and members of the U.S. Congress.
Filaret and his American interlocutors discussed what is described
here as the ways of promoting the tested methods of Ukrainian religious
organizations in other countries.

.US security aide to discuss new START treaty in Moscow.

WASHIGNTON, October 28 (Itar-Tass) - Drafting of a new strategic arms
control treaty, which should replace the one expiring next month, and
various issues of bilateral cooperation are at the top of agenda of
General James Jones, U.S. National Security Advisor who is to begin a
two-day visit to Russia Wednesday.
Gen Jones will visit Moscow at the invitation of his Russian opposite
number, Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of Russia's Security Council.
A statement issued in Washington in connection with the trip says Gen
Jones is also expected to meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,
Russian President's aide Sergei Prikhodko and some other officials.
The drafting of a new agreement due to replace the expiring Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty /START-1/, which the former USSR and the U.S. signed
in 1991, was in the focus of attention of Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama during a recent telephone
conversation.
The Kremlin press service said both sides hope to produce a
full-format legally binding treaty by the beginning of December.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told correspondents Gen Jones
and his Russian hosts are also very likely to continue discussing the
Iranian nuclear problem.
The U.S. will continue discussing the situation around the
international community's proposal to the Iranian authorities to supply
fuel for a research nuclear reactor in Teheran.
In this connection, Gibbs pointed out a statement on supplies of
enriched uranium for the reactor in Teheran that Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov made last week.
-0-kle