Stuttgart, 16 April 1997 (RFE/RL) - Russian President Boris Yeltsin has arrived at Stuttgart airport to begin a three-day visit to Germany. His visit will include talks with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
From Stuttgart, Yeltsin is being driven by armoured car to the southern spa town of Baden-Baden, where he will meet Kohl tomorrow.
Talks between the two leaders are expected to cover European security issues, especially a planned charter between Russia and NATO, as well as prospects for Russia's admission to international insitutions. Bilateral economic cooperation and restitution of German art seized by the Red Army during World War II are other issues on the agenda.
Yeltsin has indicated he will take art pieces to Germany but did not specify what. Russia's upper house of parliament today postponed a vote on whether Moscow should return art confiscated from Nazi Germany during World War II. The lower house of parliament recently overrode a Yeltsin veto and voted to permanently nationalize all art seized by the Red Army during the war.
From Stuttgart, Yeltsin is being driven by armoured car to the southern spa town of Baden-Baden, where he will meet Kohl tomorrow.
Talks between the two leaders are expected to cover European security issues, especially a planned charter between Russia and NATO, as well as prospects for Russia's admission to international insitutions. Bilateral economic cooperation and restitution of German art seized by the Red Army during World War II are other issues on the agenda.
Yeltsin has indicated he will take art pieces to Germany but did not specify what. Russia's upper house of parliament today postponed a vote on whether Moscow should return art confiscated from Nazi Germany during World War II. The lower house of parliament recently overrode a Yeltsin veto and voted to permanently nationalize all art seized by the Red Army during the war.