MOSCOW, June 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Paris on June 5, a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

“Such meeting is expected to be held,” the source told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday.

Earlier, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Lavrov and Kerry would have a bilateral meeting in Paris.

The US Secretary of State accompanies President Barack Obama, who left for the European tour on Monday, June 2.

The crisis in Ukraine and the internal conflict in Syria will be major topics due to be raised at the talks, Psaki said.

In the meantime, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier President Vladimir Putin was expected to have meetings with several world leaders within D-Day 70th anniversary in Normandy.

“Britain coordinated this issue on Friday (May 30),” Peskov said, adding that Putin and Cameron would meet in Normandy on June 6.

Commenting on a possibility for discussing the Ukrainian crisis, he said, “We are ready to discuss any topics.”

Peskov said on June 5, Putin will meet with French President Francois Hollande.

 

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This will be Putin’s first visit to Western Europe since the crisis in Ukraine. France invited Putin to take part in the holiday several months ago and confirmed the invitation despite the disagreements on Ukraine.

After the EU summit Hollande proposed his Russian counterpart to have a bilateral meeting in Normandy on June 6.

“I invited my Russian colleague to meet on June 6. We intend to hold consultations, including on the situation in Ukraine,” Hollande said.

“We can have different views. But I didn’t forget and will never forget that the Russian people lost millions of lives (in World War II),” French President Francois Hollande said.

President Putin “is a welcome guest at the festivities”, Hollande said.

Washington shares France’s view. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said despite the serious disagreements on Ukraine, the US Britain, France, the Soviet Union and other countries joined in the struggle against Nazism 70 years ago.

At St Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 24, Putin said he was ready to meet with foreign leaders as part of his trip to Normandy, France, on June 6.

“If nothing changes in the French president’s schedule, I’ll come,” Putin said at a meeting with editors-in-chief of world news agencies.

“I’m not going to run from anyone. I’ll have contacts with my colleagues, including the Canadian premier,” he said.

World leaders from many countries are invited to attend the festivities. US President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and German Chancellor Angela Merkel affirmed their decision.

Ten years ago, on June 6, 2004 the heads of state of 16 states, including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, celebrated D-Day 60th anniversary in Cannes.