German foreign minister Westerwelle in Moscow for talks

Nov 1, 2010, 8:54 GMT

Moscow - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle arrived Monday in Moscow for a one-day visit and talks with the Kremlin at the start of a three-nation tour of the region.

Westerwelle was due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, with the Berlin minister commenting, 'we now stand before a new orientation of the NATO-Russia relationship.' He said German would 'do its share to see that this succeeds.'

The talks with Lavrov were to include the issue of Russian participation in a NATO anti-missile system. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to attend the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon.

Westerwelle was also scheduled to meet with Russian opposition figures and members of civil society.

After his Moscow visit, Westerwelle is so travel to Belarus on Tuesday - where he would be the first German foreign minister to be hosted by President Aleksandr Lukashenko in 15 years. The German minister will then travel to Lithuania.

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