Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, met Aleksandr Nikitin in St. Petersburg Wednesday. During the meeting that lasted for almost an hour, Nikitin informed the minister about the nuclear safety issues in north-west Russia and stressed that international assistance was required to solve them. Lloyd Axworthy congratulated Nikitin with his victory in St. Petersburg City Court in December last year and assured him that official Canada would continue to follow the case. Aleksandr Nikitin, charged with high treason and disclosure of state secrets by the Russian Security Police, was acquitted of all charges. But the prosecutor in the case lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court demanding revaluation of the case by another judge.