UPDATE: Russia's Medvedev, UK's Brown Discuss Upcoming G20

(Adds call to Germany's Merkel and background on G20 conference)

MOSCOW (AFP)--Russian President Dmitri Medvedev held phone separate discussions Monday with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the forthcoming G20 meeting in Washington, the Kremlin said.

"The two sides emphasized the need to clarify positions before this major event," a statement said.

Brown and Medvedev also discussed bilateral issues. Relations between the two countries have been frosty since the poisoning in London in November 2006 of the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

The U.K. was also strongly critical of Russian actions in the conflict with Georgia.

The Kremlin said the two leaders "gave a positive evaluation of the latest Russo-U.K. contacts, emphasized the importance of maintaining a dialogue and agreed to pursue contacts in the future."

In their discussions Medvedev and Merkel "agreed to maintain contacts at the level of experts", a second Kremlin statement said.

The G20, which meets Nov. 15, includes the seven major industrialized nations - the U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the U.S. - plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.

It also takes in the 27-nation European Union, represented by France, which holds the rotating E.U. presidency. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank also participate in its meetings.