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Lavrov says will meet with his Slovak counterpart soon

According to the minister, Moscow is satisfied with the state of bilateral ties "in terms of political contacts at various levels and in terms of dialogue on practical cooperation"

SOCHI, February 13. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he will hold talks with his Slovak counterpart, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Miroslav Lajcak next week.

"Despite the complicated international situation and the complicated situation in Europe, we feel and reciprocate your commitment to developing and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation. By the way, we have very good contacts between our Foreign Ministries. Miroslav Lajcak with whom we meet regularly is coming toMoscow next week as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office," Lavrov said at a meeting with Slovak Parliament Speaker Andrej Danko. "Of course, we will discuss not only OSCE-related issues, but also our bilateral affairs and some thorny issues of global and European politics."

According to Russia’s top diplomat, Moscow is satisfied with bilateral ties "in terms of political contacts at various levels and in terms of dialogue on practical cooperation."

Lavrov also pointed to trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Slovakia. According to the minister, the bilateral trade turnover is approaching $5.5 bln. "[The trade turnover] grew more than 26% in 2017, and we hope it will grow even more this year. We want to consolidate this trend," he added.

For his part, Danko noted cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments. "I try to contribute to that in every possible way and develop our relations. You are our historical friends, and therefore you have our historical gratitude. It is not easy to uphold all that, but, nonetheless, cooperation with the Russian Federation is our task," he concluded.