The head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is leaving this week on his first foreign tour since his election, not to Washington, as many assumed, but to Moscow, at the invitation of Vladimir Putin. It was in the Russian capital, at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences, that the Palestinian leader defended his doctoral dissertation. Mahmoud Abbas will be in Moscow from January 31 to February 2.

Europeans are in no hurry to accept Ukraine into their community Yesterday, immediately after his first official visit to Moscow, Viktor Yushchenko went on a European tour. The President of Ukraine will visit the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, Auschwitz in Poland and the Davos Forum in Switzerland.

Abkhazia wants to remain an independent state and be friends with United Russia The elected President of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, who is in Moscow, told reporters yesterday that he had already met with State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov (he said that he spoke with the head of the unrecognized republic solely as the head of United Russia, and not as a speaker) and was going to talk with members of the Security Council . According to Mr.

Yesterday's speech by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko at the PACE session, at the request of Vremya Novostey correspondent in Strasbourg Ekaterina BUTORINA, was commented on by the head of the Russian delegation and chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Konstantin KOSACHEV. - I can only congratulate Yushchenko on his successful foreign policy debut. He made a good impression, this is an undoubted success. But as a Russian citizen, I am disappointed.

Suspected al-Qaeda members arrested in Germany In Germany, an arrest warrant has been issued for two Islamists suspected of having links with the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda. They were detained last weekend. One of them, Yasser Abu S., was once seen surrounded by a suicide pilot who committed a terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001.

Yesterday, a debate took place in the US Senate regarding the appointment of Condoleezza Rice to the post of US Secretary of State. There were no surprises - the majority of senators supported her candidacy. Last week it was already approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Then, out of 18 people, only two voted against - John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. But Democrats insisted on additional debate in the Senate to once again criticize the White House's policy in Iraq.

Tbilisi sent an emissary to Moscow Today in Moscow, Secretary of the Georgian Security Council Gela Bezhuashvili will hold talks with her Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov. The main topic is the creation of a joint anti-terrorist center on Georgian territory. Mr. Bezhuashvili stated this on the eve of his departure to Moscow in an interview with the Tbilisi television company “Mze” (“Sun”). “Common interests have already emerged here,” he said.

Putin solved the Syrian debt problem like a king Yesterday, in the Green Living Room of the Grand Kremlin Palace, President Vladimir Putin held negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which were successful, if only because the parties resolved the difficult problem of the Syrian debt accumulated since Soviet times for arms supplies (the amount exceeded $13 billion). Only their personal assistants were present at the negotiations between the two leaders.

President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan, scheduled for early this year, is now in doubt due to a surge in controversy between Tokyo and Moscow over the ownership of the South Kuril Islands. Why did relations deteriorate again and what can Russia expect from the Land of the Rising Sun in the future?