Financial aid to rescue Europes debt-stricken countries is set to dominate talks between Christine Lagarde,the head of the International Monetary Fund,and Russias president,government and monetary officials during her visit to Moscow. Lagarde,scheduled to arrive on Sunday evening for her first visit to Russia since becoming the managing director of the IMF,will spend two days convincing Moscow to chip in some of its petro dollars to boost bailout funds for the euro zone. From Moscow,Lagarde is to travel to China and Japan. In a typically terse statement,the Kremlin said that President Dmitry Medvedev will talk with Lagarde about the current issues of todays global economy and its finances,international efforts to stabilise them . as well as further steps to stabilise the global financial system. Moscow has said it is willing to talk bilaterally with affected countries,but it has been very careful in pledging cash to the eurozone as a whole. Finance Ministry officials have said repeatedly that Russia needs clarity and full briefing on Europes rescue plan,including who would carry financial responsibility for the aid. Russias government has pledged so far only up to $10 billion and only to be used through an IMF mechanism. It is a fraction of the 1 trillion euros that Europes leaders aim to have available through the European Financial Stability Facility. The $10 billion is also a fraction of Russias gold and foreign exchange reserves,which now stand at more than half a trillion dollars and are the worlds third-largest.
