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Russian Foreign Minister to meet with US Secretary of State on November 20

It will be his first meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State after the presidential elections in the United States
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, November 18 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he planned to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Cambodia on November 20.

It will be his first meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State after the presidential elections in the United States.

Lavrov will take part in annual meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ESEAN) and the seventh East Asia Summit.

“The East Asia Summit is a vital mechanism and an influential inter-state forum in the Asia-Pacific region,” Alexander Lukashevich, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said earlier. “The format was created in 2005 in the interests of strengthening a political dialogue and developing practical cooperation among the states located in the region.”

At the moment, the forum unites ten ASEAN countries, as well as Australia, India, China, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United States and Japan.

“Russia officially joined the format alongside with the United States during the 5th East Asia Summit that was held in Hanoi in 2010,” the Russian diplomat said.

The 7th East Asia Summit is expected to consider prospects of further evolution of the East Asia Summit and implementation of joint programs in concrete spheres of cooperation. Urgent international and regional problems will also be on the summit’s agenda.

“A Phnom Penh Declaration on the initiative of development of East Asia Summits as well as a Declaration on regional reaction to the threat of malaria spread and measures to raise the effectiveness of anti-malaria drugs will be adopted at the summit,” the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

“Active participation in the East Asia Summit is one of the key elements in the policy of building Russia’s involvement in the integration processes in the Asia-Pacific Region,” the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized. “Practical steps towards deeper cooperation in this format are being corroborated by expansion of bilateral ties with the region’s states, primarily in the interests of modernized development of our country and socio-economic recovery of the Siberia and the Far East.”