President Dmitry Medvedev will open the Russian Year in France and will discuss Iran, Afghanistan and the Russian initiative of a European security treaty while visiting Paris on March 1-3, a Kremlin representative told Itar-Tass on Friday.

“France is a privileged partner of Russia. We have close historical relations in all spheres. The Russian-French interaction includes an intensive and frank political dialog at various levels, steady economic relations immune from the world crisis, and multifaceted humanitarian contacts,” he said.

The high status of the upcoming visit is another peculiarity of the bilateral relations, the source said.

The Russian and French presidents will discuss the entire range of bilateral relations. There will be detailed negotiations with Prime Minister Francois Fillon and meetings with Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, Senate President Gerard Larcher and National Assembly Bernard Accoyer. Medvedev will deliver a number of speeches and take part in several cultural events.

“The opening of the Russian Year in France and the French Year in Russia will be the landmark event and an important contribution to the strategic partnership between France and Russia,” the source said.

“The presidents will open the Holy Rus exhibition at the Louvre on March 2. In all, the national years’ program includes over 400 events, among them a Comedy Francois tour in Russia, the Russian Day in Paris, the Russian national exhibition and the Picasso show in Russia,” he said.

“The colossal project will intensify the cultural dialog and inter-regional contacts and promote the teaching of the Russian language in French schools. In all, it will strengthen mutual understanding between the people of Russia and France,” the source said.

“Foreign political interaction will be in the focus of the visit. The high level of Russia-France cooperation on the international scene is based on similarity or coincidence of national positions. The sides favor a multi-polar world order, the supremacy of international laws, the central role of the United Nations and the UN Security Council, and indivisibility of international security,” the source said.

“The chiefs of state will consider the most topical international issues, including European security and the Russian initiative of a European security treaty, the developments around the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Afghanistan, and the Middle East settlement process,” he said.

The allocation of a land lot for building a Russian church in Paris and the Nice court’s confirmation of the Russian ownership of the St. Nicholas cathedral create a positive backdrop for the visit, he said. “This is another illustrative example of the special relationship and the spiritual ties,” he noted.