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Barack Obama may visit Russia in April

22 January 2009 08:33 (UTC +04:00)

Washington â€“APA. The US President Barack Obama could pay a visit to Moscow in April US, APA reports.
According to a source close to the US State Department quoted by Kommersant, Obama will set off for his first European tour in April and is to visit London April 2 to participate in the G20 summit, and meet for the first time with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
Obama will then attend a NATO summit April 3-4 in Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany to mark the 60th anniversary of the military alliance.
The source said Obama could fly to Moscow after the summit. The previous US president George Bush flew to Russiaâ€™s Black Sea resort of Sochi after last yearâ€™s NATO summit in Bucharest.
He said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was likely to visit Russia in March before Obamaâ€™s trip to Moscow. The Russian foreign ministry said the date of Clintonâ€™s visit had not yet been agreed on.
A source in the Russian presidential administration said that no official information on Obamaâ€™s possible visit to Moscow had been received.
President Medvedev earlier said he hoped the United States would develop constructive relations with Moscow under Obama.
Russia-US relations have been frayed in recent years by Washingtonâ€™s plans to deploy elements of a missile shield to Central Europe, Russiaâ€™s five-day war with Georgia over South Ossetia last August, and NATOâ€™s eastward expansion.