UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon is scheduled to attend the opening of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Schi, Russia, on Friday, where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders present at the opening, a UN spokesman told reporters here Monday.

"The secretary-general will depart New York on Tuesday evening for a visit to Sochi in Russia," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said at a daily news briefing here. "On Friday, 7 February, he will take part in the opening of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games."

"The secretary-general will hold bilateral meetings with world leaders who will, like him, be attending the Games in Sochi," Nesirky said.

During his stay in Sochi, Ban will address, for the first time, the assembly of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The spokesman cited "the growing relationship between the United Nations and the IOC as one of the reasons that the secretary-general would go to Sochi and speak to the IOC members."

Ban plans to return to New York on Saturday.

The 2014 Olympic Winter Games is due to take place in Sochi on Feb. 7-23, and the XI Paralympic Winter Games is to be held in the same venue on March 7-16. Endite

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