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Lavrov to discuss trade and economic cooperation with his Beninese counterpart

The relations between Russia and Benin have been traditionally friendly, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

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MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Beninese counterpart Aurelien Agbenonci will hold talks in Moscow on Thursday. They will discuss bilateral cooperation in political and trade & economic spheres and compare their approaches to international and regional problems.

"The relations between Russia and Benin have been traditionally friendly. Our countries maintain interested political dialogue and have prospects for developing mutually beneficial cooperation in trade & economic, humanitarian and other spheres," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The foreign ministry noted that the bilateral trade turnover remains at a rather low level. It stood at $892,000 in 2015 but reached $1.196 million in the first eight months of 2016. "The main part is Russian export, mostly represented by diesel fuel and lubricants," the ministry noted.

"Moscow intends to concretely develop the potential of trade and economic cooperation, strengthen the legal basis of bilateral relations. We are ready for expanding military and military-technical cooperation," the foreign ministry said adding that Russia will continue providing humanitarian support to Benin.

"We hope that during the visit of the Beninese foreign minister, key directions will be established for further joint work on boosting a mutually beneficial partnership in different spheres," the ministry noted.

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"Russian-Beninese cooperation on the international arena is carried out on the basis of similarity of principal approaches of Moscow and Cotonou toward such important issues as strengthening UN’s central role in global affairs, fighting against terrorism and extremism, against drug trafficking, settling conflicts, including in Africa," the foreign ministry said.

"Cotonou constructively participates in the resolution of pan-African problems, including promotion of integrational processes, countering piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and radicalism in the Sahel region. Benin is an active member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)," the ministry said.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Cooperation Trade & Cooperation Bilateral relations

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