Kyrgyz Foreign Minister To Visit Russia This Week

Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev is scheduled to visit Moscow on September 3-5 for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on September 2 that Abdyldaev and Lavrov will discuss Eurasian economic integration, regional security in Central Asia, and international affairs.

The Kyrgyz government has announced its intention to join the Russia-led Customs Union by the end of 2014.

On May 29, in the Kazakh capital, Astana, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev and the leaders of the Customs Union's member-states -- Vladimir Putin of Russia, Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, and Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus -- signed the road map on Bishkek's joining the group.

The organization is scheduled to start functioning as the Eurasian Economic Union as of January 1.

Based on statement by Russian Foreign Ministry