President Vladimir Putin will on Monday, May 20 meet with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, who is in Russia on a three-day working visit, according to RIA Novosti.
The visit's program will start when the Council of Europe chief meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the sides plan to discuss the progress of the Council’s reform started a few years ago.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996 and is one of the five main contributors to its budget.
On Tuesday, Jagland is to meet with representatives of Russian NGOs and speak at a joint meeting of the committees on international affairs and on constitutional legislation and state construction in the Russian lower house, the State Duma. He will also meet with Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin.
