Washington, 18 November 1996 (RFE/RL) - Alexander Lebed, former National Security Council adviser to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, is in America for the first time -- on a private one-week visit to New York and Washington.
He arrived at the weekend in New York and is scheduled to speak tonight to the Council on Foreign Relations, a private foreign policy institute that provides a forum for world leaders.
Lebed was invited to the United States by the Council and the Washington-based Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom.
Organizers told our correspondent that Lebed will address a closed joint meeting of the two institutes in Washington on Wednesday.
During his stay in the U.S. capital, Lebed is also expected to meet senior U.S. government officials and congressional leaders.
Lebed became Yeltsin's National Security Council Secretary after winning third place in the first round of Russia's presidential election in June. Yeltsin fired him last month, saying Lebed took a series of actions without presidential approval.