Washington, 4 February 1997 (RFE/RL) - The U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation chaired by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and U.S. Vice President Al Gore meets this week in Washington.
Scheduled for Thursday and Friday on the White House grounds, the commission meeting is expected to cover a full range of bilateral issues, but focusing on economic relations and cooperation on a broad range of projects from the environment to nuclear arms.
Officials have said Chernomyrdin and Gore also are expected to discuss the planned summit next month between Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton. Clinton said last week the plans are still on for the meeting in Washington, but some unnamed White House officials have been quoted recently as saying the United States may offer to meet at a neutral site or in Russia if necessary in light of Yeltsin's health problems.
Gore and Chernomyrdin also may travel to the U.S. city of Chicago on Saturday to meet with executives of several U.S. oil companies and agricultural exporters to discuss developments in Russia's energy and agribusiness sectors.