UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Moscow next week for talks with government officials in his first visit to Russia, one of the five veto powers on the UN Security Council, it was announced Thursday, according to DPA. Ban will arrive on Wednesday for a three-day visit during which he will meet with President Vladimir Putin, president-elect Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He will also meet with Russian legislators, civil society leaders and speak at the Moscow State University. Since becoming secretary general in January 2007, Ban has visited Washington, Paris and London, but not Moscow and Beijing. Those are the capitals of the UN council's five permanent members, who hold veto power over UN activities and programmes.
