Medvedev in US trade-politics tour

Russia: Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s visit to Silicon Valley in San Francisco, California and a meeting with US President Barack Obama later in Washington gives an unusual start to his trip to the US, said Presidential Aide Arkadi Dvorkovich.

In California Medvedev is expected to meet the Russian community, as well as with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the management of Google Co. that will invest in Russia’s Skolkovo Techonology Development Centre.

Medvedev is scheduled to fly Thursday to Washington to attend the US-Russia Joint Bilateral Commission, the top concerns of which include US support to Russia’s admission into the World Trade Organization despite the Jackson-Vanik Amendment that leads bilateral economic cooperation.

The talks will also cover legislative confirmation of the SALT II Treaty signed last April in Prague, Iran’s nuclear program, the crises at the Korean Peninsula, Kyrgizya, the Middle East and Afghanistan, and joint actions to fight international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, organized crime and piracy.

Both heads of state will also attend a business meeting with executives of the Russian companies Rostejnologuia, KAMAZ and Iron and Steel Avisma Corp. Moscow, Prensa Latina