Russia, US to begin next round of START consultations in Geneva.

GENEVA, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and the United States will
begin the eighth round of consultations on a new strategic arms reduction
treaty here on Monday.


The sides will continue to discuss the document,
which is designed to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
that the Soviet Union and the U.S. signed in Moscow in 1991 and reduced by
one-third the nuclear arsenals in Russia and U.S. The START-1 treaty
expires on December 5, 2009.
Ahead of a new round of the consultations spokesman for the Russian
Foreign Ministry Andrei Nesterenko expressed hope that this round will be
final and the new treaty will have been coordinated by December 5. "Both
delegations have clear instructions from the presidents to this effect,
and they must be fulfilled," he said.
"The atmosphere at the talks is businesslike and constructive," the
spokesman said. "Both sides realize responsibility shouldered on them and
are doing their best to fulfill the demands of the presidents. Some
progress was made," he said.

.Medvedev to attend 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall Fall.

MOSCOW, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
accepted an invitation made by German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and
will visit Germany on Monday. He will attend international top-level
events, which are dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall
Fall and will probably meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"Attending a ceremony on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the
Berlin Wall Fall, we want to note the need for breaking other walls, which
have emerged in Europe in the last few years. This visit is in line with
Dmitry Medvedev's initiative to sign a new European security treaty,"
Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass.
"The Kremlin noted that the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago
influenced seriously international relations and those imperatives, which
are implemented for the rapprochement and confidence-building measures
between the peoples. We are guided by these imperatives," Prikhodko noted.
"The additional successful background for these events was particularly
laid by U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to revise the U.S. missile
defense plans and the intentions voiced by Dmitry Medvedev and Barack
Obama to make rapid headway to a new strategic arms reduction treaty," he
said.
President Dmitry Medvedev regretted that after the reunification of
Germany Russia got NATO missiles aimed at it instead of integration into
Europe.
"After the fall of the Berlin Wall there were hopes that did not come
true and there were hopes that came true," Medvedev said in an interview
with Der Spiegel on November 7.
"The hopes that came true are clear: Europe is united, there is a
single German state even though this process was not smooth. As for what
did not come true, we thought that Russia's place in Europe would be
determined somewhat differently after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We
hoped that the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact would be accompanied by a
different degree of Russia's integration into pan-European space. But what
have we got as a result? NATO is after all a bloc whose missiles are aimed
at Russian territory, it's a military bloc," Medvedev said, referring to
the alliance's eastward expansion.
He believes it important to sign a European security treaty. Its idea
is "to create a forum" where such problems could be discussed "both by
NATO member states and European countries that are not NATO members".
"Otherwise, non-NATO states will not feel quite comfortable anyway,"
he added.
"I am not saying that this treaty should be opposed to NATO. It's just
that we need to create a universal mechanism that will allow is to
communicate, discuss the most complex situations and how to overcome our
inner European disagreements over certain issues," Medvedev said.
"Medvedev is not expected to have a separate meeting with Angela
Merkel, the hostess of the anniversary events, but the possibility for a
meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy is explored," Prikhodko said.
Commenting on a possible meeting with the French president a Russian
foreign political expert told Itar-Tass, "Due to the reasons not depending
from the Russian side such meetings were not held twice this year, though
they were planned - at a G8 summit in L'Aquila and at a G-20 summit in
Pittsburgh."

.Russia to launch vaccination against new flu.

MOSCOW, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will launch a vaccination
campaign against new flu on Monday. The first stage of the vaccination
will be held in the Altai Territory, the Moscow, Tyumen, Bryansk and
Voronezh regions.
Minister of Health and Social Development Tatiana Golikova will visit
a hospital in Lvovsky, Podolsk district of the Moscow region on this
occasion.
The first stage of the vaccination will embrace utility workers (the
housing and utilities complex, water and electric power supplies, as well
as the communications), the press service of the Ministry of Health and
Social Development told Itar-Tass. Medical workers, teachers, senior
students of medical higher educational institutions will be vaccinated
since late November. The next stage of the vaccination will embrace other
categories of the population in the risk groups exposed to the threat of
severe complications of the disease - people with chronic diseases,
pregnant women and children.
Four vaccines were developed, passed pre-clinical and clinical tests,
proved their efficiency and full safety in the tests and were registered,
the press service recalled. "The Russian government allocated four billion
roubles for the purchases of first 43 million vaccines," the press service
reported. The Microgen federal state unitary enterprise, which is one of
the vaccine's producers, has already concluded a state contract for the
first anti-A(H1N1) flu vaccine supplies (1.3 million vaccines).
"If a person has already been vaccinated against seasonal flu, he must
be vaccinated against A(H1N1) flu all the same, as the vaccine against
seasonal flu includes three current strains and does not protect from flu
caused by the A(H1N1) virus," the ministry's press service said. These
inoculations should be made with an interval of at least a month under the
vaccine application instructions.
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