Medvedev Seeks Electric Power Deal with Kyrgyzstan

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday for talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and to take part in meetings of CIS and Eurasec leaders, the Kremlin said.

At their meeting in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Medvedev and Bakiyev are expected to discuss trade and economic cooperation, including in energy, as well as regional security. This is Medvedev's first visit to Bishkek since his election victory in March 2008.

The presidents are due to sign an intergovernmental agreement on developing cooperation in the electric-power supply industry, as well as a memorandum of understanding bet­ween Kyrgyzstan and Russia's energy giant Gazprom.

During his two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan, Medvedev will also take part in meetings of the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Indepen-dent States (CIS) and of the Inter­governmental Council of Eurasec. Both meetings are set for October 10.

Both the CIS and Eurasec leaders are expected to discuss, among other issues, the current financial crisis at their respective meetings.

Russia: Arms sales to Venezuela are defensive

Russia's foreign minister says the country's arms sales to Venezuela are meant for defensive purposes.

Russia has stepped up ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and is sending a naval squadron to Venezuela for exercises next month in a show of force near the United States. Russia has sold Venezuela weapons worth more than $4 billion since 2005 and announced a $1 billion credit for arms purchases last month.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke Tuesday after a meeting in Moscow with Venezuela's foreign minister.

Lavrov also told a state-run newspaper that Russia and Venezuela have no plans to attack anybody, suggesting a joint attack on the United States was "unimaginable."

Russian youth to greet cosmonauts with tree message

Young people in the city of Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Russian internal republic of Buryatia, are working to send greetings to cosmonauts in orbit by means of specially planted trees, the Mayak radio reports. The specially planted pine trees will form two huge phrases "hello to cosmonauts!" in Russian and in English.

The newly planted trees will replace the suburban forests destroyed by fires. Organizers of the event also said that it could possibly draw more attention to Buryatia from abroad and increase the number of tourists in the region.

The actual implementation of the project will be based on the experience of Russian forest ranger Kamenshikov who has planted trees spelling out a giant phrase "Vladimir Lenin is 100" several decades ago in the Kurgan Region in South Urals. - RIA Novosti, AP, Moscow News

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