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Putin to discuss 2018 World Cup and Severnaya mine collapse with government

Russian President Vladimir Putin аlso meet with Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev on Wednesday

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold another session with the government and meet with Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev on Wednesday, the Kremlin press service reported.

According to the Kremlin, the session with the government will focus on "preparations for 2018 FIFA World Cup, as well as for WorldSkills-2019 international competition in skill trades." "Several other relevant issues will also be considered," the press service added.

Putin said on Tuesday that at the meeting with the government, he expects a report on the collapse of the Severnaya mine in Vorkuta, where 36 people - miners and rescuers - were killed as a result of several explosions. "We need conclusions for practical use - to avoid the tragedy of such scale, of such kind at all. Talking about social issues, I will certainly keep everything under control, and the government will also report tomorrow (on Wednesday) on what is being done for the people who were injured and for the families of those killed," the Russian leader said on Tuesday after he heard a report of Russian industrial safety watchdog Rostechnadzor’s head Alexey Aleshin on the causes of the mine collapse.

Russian Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who heads the commission on providing assistance to those injured and the families of those killed in the mine collapse, said that he will present a final report on these issues to the president on March 2.

The Russian head of state regularly - usually twice a month - holds sessions with the cabinet of ministers. The last such meeting took place on February 10.

Putin will also hold talks with Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev. "It is planned to discuss key issues of Russian-Kyrgyz cooperation. It is expected that main attention will be paid to prospects of strengthening trade and economic ties, including with consideration of Kyrgystan’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union since August 2015," the presidential press service said.

The last meeting between Putin and Atambayev took place in the Kremlin at the end of last December on the sidelines of the sessions of CSTO’s (Collective Security Treaty Organization) Collective Security Council and Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.