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Russia considers UAE as its major partner in Middle East - Russian upper house speaker

The sides agreed that major areas of bilateral cooperation, along with the energy sector, include agriculture and space

ST. PETERSBURG, October 15. /TASS/. Russia considers the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of its major partners in the Middle East, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko said on Sunday at a meeting with President of the UAE Federal National Council Amal Al Qubaisi.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 137th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

"We have been traditionally considering the United Arab Emirates as one of Russia’s major partners in the region," she said, adding that the key task on the bilateral agenda is to expand trade-and-economic and investment cooperation.

The sides agreed that major areas of bilateral cooperation, along with the energy sector, include agriculture and space.

The two speakers noted the high level of bilateral parliamentary ties and agreed that closer cooperation should be established between the parliaments’ committees.

The sides touched upon a number of topical issues of international agenda. Al Qubaisi hailed Russia’s constructive and stabilizing role in the Middle East and its contribution to international anti-terror efforts. She noted a big potential of bilateral cooperation in international parliamentary formats. "We see the highest level of organization of the assembly in St. Petersburg. It is a great contribution in cooperation between nations, development of international parliamentary diplomacy," she stressed.