U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton left for Moscow yesterday to discuss a U.S.-led effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo (see GSN, Sept. 15).

The “primary purpose” of Bolton’s two-day visit to Russia is to discuss issues related to the Proliferation Security Initiative, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday (U.S. State Department release, Sept. 16).  Four PSI members — Australia, France, Japan and the United States — recently conducted a naval interdiction exercise off the coast of Australia.

In addition, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill is scheduled to travel to China and Japan next week for talks on the initiative, according to Agence France-Presse.  China’s opposition to the effort has begun to weaken after presentations from U.S. and Australian officials, AFP reported.  Sources have also said that China, along with Russia, would be approached to take part in further planned initiative exercises (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 17).

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