Washington, 19 September 1997 (RFE/RL) - The U.S. says foreign ministers of the 17 countries represented on the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council will discuss Bosnia and other areas of practical cooperation when they meet in New York later this month.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and visiting NATO Secretary General Javier Solana yesterday discussed an agenda for the September 26 meeting.
He said the Joint Council will also review peacekeeping operations and next steps in NATO-Russia ties.
Rubin said Albright and Solana also reviewed the status of accession talks with Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. He said the talks are expected to continue through next month and that the accession protocols are to be signed in December.
Albright is scheduled to arrive in New York Sunday for a two-week stay to meet with a number of leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly, including Russia's Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov. Primakov is scheduled to address the U.N. gathering on Tuesday.