Washington, DC -- Today Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) hosted a joint meeting between the Foreign Affairs Committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation was led by Chairman Konstantin Kosachev, who was accompanied by five Duma members.

"Given the numerous issues confronting the United States and Russia, we are committed to ensuring a regular exchange of views between legislators," Berman said. "The discussion focused on a wide range of topics, including the state of bilateral relations, shared foreign policy challenges, arms control and non-proliferation, humanitarian issues, energy and trade."

The session today was the fifth in a series of meetings between the two committees, with previous events held in Moscow (June 2004, June 2009) and Washington, D.C. (November 2005, June 2007).

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher and Michael McFaul, National Security Coucil Senior Director for Russia, took part in several of today’s sessions.