Moscow - The presidents of Russia and the United States are expected to sign an agreement on strategic offensive weapons on the sidelines of a financial summit in London next week, the Kremlin has announced.

According to the Interfax news agency, citing Kremlin officials, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will also issue a joint statement about their nations' bilateral relations during their first meeting since Obama's inauguration in January.

The statement will have "practical applications for coming negotiations," said Sergei Prikhodko, an advisor to Medvedev.

Islamabad, Mar. 28 : Russia and China may support Pakistan in setting up new nuclear power plants to meet the country's growing energy needs.

According to The Nation sources, Moscow and Beijing are expected to bail out Islamabad from the constraints relating to establishing new nuclear power plants.

The Russia-China offer contains the conditions, that the nuclear power plants offered to Pakistan should be set up under the supervision and in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency, sources said.

Miami  - Russia put four women into the third round of the Miami Masters on Friday, with second seed Dinara Safina leading the way past France's Mathilde Johansson 6-1, 6-3.

Safina, who missed a chance to seize the number 1 WTA ranking from Serena Williams last week in Indian Wells when the American did not play, paced fourth-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva, a winner over Anastasia Pivovarova 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

Moscow  - Russia, Iran and Central Asian states called Friday for Afghanistan's neighbours to coordinate their efforts and be more actively engaged in helping the country fight terrorism and drug- trafficking.

The comments at a Russia-sponsored summit on Afghanistan seemed targeted at alerting Washington just four days before a broader UN- led conference that it must play more attention to the interests of regional powers in strategy planning.

Moscow  - Russia plans to create a military force directed at defending its interests in the Arctic by 2020, the National Security Council said in a strategy document published Friday.

The reported posted on the council's web site outlined the government's plan to set up a special force "to guarantee Russia's military security in diverse military and political circumstances."

A spokesman for the council told news agency Ria-Novosti that Russia's strategy did not signal confrontation.

Moscow  - President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said Russia is ready to consider downgrading its anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya, where it has fought separatists in two wars in the early 1990s, the news agency Interfax reported.

"Since the situation in the Chechen republic has normalized to a large degree and life is returning to normal ... I propose we consider ending the counterterrorism regime which operates in Chechnya," Medvedev told the head of Russia's FSB security services.