Russian president Vladimir Putin would visit Bulgaria on January 18 2008. Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin announced on December 16 at a seminar in Kyustendil, dedicated to Bulgaria's first year as an EU member state, Dnevnik daily reported.

Kalfin presented his programme for the weeks to come, which included visits to Serbia, Kosovo, Greece and the USA, Dnevnik daily said.

Putin's visit to Bulgaria has been discussed unofficially for about a month. However, the dates had been kept secret. According to preliminary plans, the intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline would be signed during the visit. The programme would also include a gala concert at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) to open Russia's year in Bulgaria, celebrating the 130th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Turkish war and Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman occupation.

On January 2, 2008 Kalfin would leave for the USA, where he would meet the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 4. The two would discuss bilateral political, military and economic relations, as well as NATO's enlargement and the status of Kosovo, Dnevnik daily said. 

The Kosovo topic would be key during Kalfin's visits to Belgrade on December 17 and to Priština on December 27. Possible solutions of Kosovo's status issue would be discussed during a December 22 tripartite meeting of Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian representatives, Dnevnik daily said.