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Second Session of the Franco-Russian Cooperation Council on Security Issues (CCQS) (excerpted)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France

Daily Press Briefing

July 4, 2003

[...]

The foreign minister will go to Moscow on July 8 for the second session of the Franco-Russian cooperation council on security issues (CCQS).

This bilateral forum was set up by the presidents of the Russian Federation and the French Republic in January 2002 when they met in Paris.

The purpose is to strengthen the strategic dialogue between France and Russia by having twice-yearly meetings of the foreign and defense ministers of both countries. The inaugural session was held last November 15 in Paris.

The ministers will focus on military cooperation, especially the industrial aspects which include the proposal for a fifth-generation fighter jet, European security and the place Russian must have in it, nonproliferation, the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking as well as the situation in the Middle East, Iraq and the Balkans.