Russia, China to create mechanism for environmental compensation

MOSCOW.  Dec 20 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said his  country  and  China  will  continue  to  expand cooperation in
environmental  protection  projects  and  plan  to  consider  creating a
mechanism for compensation if damage is caused to the environment of one
of the countries.
    "Our  Chinese colleagues and we will continue to advance mechanisms
of actual  cooperation  to rapidly find solutions to problems related to
environmental   protection.   Compensation   mechanisms   will  also  be
developed," he told a briefing in Moscow on Tuesday.
    Lavrov  said  that  he met on December 19 with Emergency Situations
Minister  Sergei  Shoigu,  who  confirmed  that the toxic slick that was
leaked into  the  Songhua River after an explosion at a Chinese chemical
factory  and  is now moving along the Amur River toward Khabarovsk poses
no threat to the local population.