20000129

Albright leaves for Switzerland, Russia

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright left Washington for the start of a five-day trip to Switzerland and Russia early on Friday after hearing President Bill Clinton deliver his final State of the Union address.

Albright was scheduled to address the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Sunday before departing for Moscow, and to co-chair multilateral Middle East talks in Moscow with her foreign minister counterpart.

She is also expected to hold the first and highest-level face-to-face U.S. meeting with acting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week.

In her meeting with Putin, Albright is expected to repeat the West's opposition to Russia's bloody campaign against militants in Chechnya, and to raise issues of arms control which continue to plague U.S.-Russian relations.-Reuters