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Clinton to attend Russia-NATO Council meeting April 19

Clinton will be in Belgium on April 18-19 and she will attend not only the Council meeting but also confer with NATO foreign and defence ministers

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Itar-Tass) —— U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on April 19, the Department of State said.

Clinton will be in Belgium on April 18-19 and she will attend not only the Council meeting but also confer with NATO foreign and defence ministers.

At the joint ministerial meeting, ministers will review the status of NATO’s transition strategy for Afghanistan, new capabilities for the Alliance and NATO’s global partnerships.

Clinton will also have bilateral talks with Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders.

Prior to that, Clinton will visit Colombia and Brazil. She will be in Colombia on April 13-15 to accompany U.S. President Barack Obama for the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena.

There, the U.S. delegation will meet with democratically-elected heads of state and government from throughout the Hemisphere to strengthen ties, expand partnerships, and continue progress in economic growth, social inclusion, and citizen security.

The Secretary will then travel to Brasilia, Brazil April 16-17. On April 16, she will lead the U.S. delegation for the third U.S.-Brazil Global Partnership Dialogue. This Dialogue builds upon the agreements the United States and Brazil reached during President Obama’s visit to Brazil in 2011 and President Rousseff’s visit to the United States on April 9-10, 2012. Issues discussed in the Global Partnership Dialogue range from development and education cooperation to global political and economic issues. The Dialogue provides a forum to transform our agreements into concrete action. The Secretary will also meet with government officials and representative of the private sector.

On April 17, the Secretary will provide opening remarks with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the First Annual High-Level Meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Launched eight months ago by Presidents Obama and Rousseff, OGP will formally welcome 42 new countries into the Partnership as they announce concrete commitments to prevent corruption, promote transparency, and harness new technologies to empower citizens, the Department of State said.

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