DUSHANBE, October 5, 2012, Asia-Plus – Bilateral talks of Tajik and Russian leaders has started in Dushanbe.

The meeting is also attended by Tajik Foreign minister Hamrokhon Zairfi, State Adviser to the Tajik President for Foreign Policy Erkin Rahmatulloyev, Tajik Ambassador to Russia Abdulmajdi Dostiyev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov and the Aide to the Russian President for International Affairs Yuri Ushakov.

The negotiations in narrow format will be followed by negotiations in the enlarged format.  Heads of core ministries and organizations will participate in negotiations in the enlarged format.

According to a source at the Tajik government, a dignified delegation is accompanying Russian President Putin on his official visit to Tajikistan.  The delegation members include Minister of Energy Aleksandr Novak, Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyuk, Minister of Education Dmitry Livanov, Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Chairman Viktor Ivanov, Head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Aleksandr Fomin, Federal Customs Service Chairman Andrey Belyanov, and Federal Migration Service (FMS) Chairman Konstantin Romodanovsky. 

The sides are due today to discuss bilateral relations, including cultural, military-technical, trade and energy cooperation.