Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is due to visit Moscow October 31 for talks with President Dmitry Medvedev on arms purchases and other deals, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported Monday.
The Libyan leader last visited Russia in 1985 in the days of the Soviet Union. Ties between Tripoli and Moscow have again warmed since Vladimir Putin visited Libya last April shortly after he left the Kremlin.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the report and said that Qaddafi will visit Moscow in the near future. "The visit is being planned and the sides will coordinate and announce a date [for the visit]," Lavrov told reporters.
Topics for the visit will include possible delivery of Russian Su-30 fighter planes and advanced T-90 battle tanks, the report said, quoting an unnamed foreign ministry source and another source in the state technology agency.
Russia could also sell Libya Tor-M2E air missile defence systems and spare parts for Russian-made weapons it already possesses, it said.
Recent contacts between Libya and Russia have centred on Tripoli's 4.6 billion dollar (3.4 billion-euro) debt to Moscow which could be settled through a variety of business contracts, the report said.
In addition to possible weapons sales, the largest of the contracts under con-sideration is the construction by Russia's rail monopoly of a 554-kilometre (344-mile) rail line between the Libyan cities of Surt and Banghazi.
That project was valued at around 2.2 billion euros (2.9 billion dollars), the paper said.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has also signed a provisional agreement with Libya on establishment of a joint venture that would develop projects in Libya and other countries in Africa, Vedomosti said.
Combined report AFP, RIA Novosti
