SEOUL, March 26 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Seoul on Monday to participate in the second Nuclear Security Summit, which will be held on March 26-27.
The summiteers “will discuss physical and technical nuclear security, and the protection of nuclear facilities and radioactive materials, rather than the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea,” Russian Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
Prikhodko noted that the leaders of 53 countries (for instance, the presidents of Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, and the prime ministers of Canada, France, Japan, Poland and Spain) and four international organizations will participate in the summit.
During a two-day summit Medvedev will have at least three bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, Prikhodko said. He noted that Medvedev will have negotiations with US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak already on Monday. On March 27, Medvedev is to meet with King of Jordan Abdullah II. Prikhodko added that the Russian president is planning to give a press conference on the results of the summit and bilateral meetings.
“Russia does not intend to put forward any global initiatives at the summit, we will negotiate our positions with other summiteers,” Prikhodko noted. He added that Russia “has some claims to some countries” over nuclear security and physical nuclear protection. “For us (Russia) this program (on nuclear security) is prioritized. Despite all breakdowns, including the nuclear disaster at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 in the previous year, we do not intend to curtail our nuclear program,” Prikhodko stated. He recalled that on the contrary the Russian leadership set the task to increase the power output at nuclear power plants and build new nuclear power plants. “There are neither big nor small questions to Russia, as we are fulfilling all our commitments over disarmament, physical nuclear security,” the Kremlin official pointed out. He also noted that Russia “continues to make financial contributions in international efforts for physical security of the nuclear industry.” He gave as an example an educational centre in Obninsk, where hundreds of specialists are trained every year.
He pledged that “physical nuclear security is maintained at the proper level in Russia.” “All nuclear materials and relevant installations are provided with reliable security in Russia,” the Kremlin high-ranking official said.
Prikhodko noted that physical nuclear security put on the agenda of the summit is “a sphere to prevent nuclear and radioactive materials and power units from using for criminal purposes.” The term of technical nuclear security embraces all issues related to the operation of nuclear sites, their design and the handling of nuclear and radioactive materials.
Seoul will host the second Nuclear Security Summit. The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington in April 2010. The summit will begin with a lunch of delegation heads, who will review physical security measures taken after the Washington summit. The summit scheduled two working meetings and a breakfast on March 27 devoted to national measures and international cooperation in the strengthening of physical nuclear security and its link to technical nuclear security.
“The media will not be invited for all debates at the summit,” Prikhodko said.