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Lavrov pays working visit to Slovakia

The Russian Foreign Minister's trip will coincide with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bratislava from Nazi occupation by the Red Army on April 4, 1945

Sergey Lavrov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Sergey Lavrov

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

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MOSCOW, April 3 /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a working visit to Slovakia on April 3-4, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

His trip will coincide with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bratislava — the capital of Slovakia — from Nazi occupation by the Red Army on April 4, 1945.

The Russian foreign minister will meet Slovak President Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister Robert Fico; Peter Pellegrini, the speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic as well as his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak. They are expected to discuss the state and further prospects for developing Russian-Slovak relations and plans of political contacts.

"The foreign ministers will discuss urgent issues on the European and international agenda on which Russia and Slovakia often hold close or identical approaches. They include the situation in Ukraine; the OSCE role in implementing a package of measures adopted on February 12 and aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements; the Russia-EU relations; the situation in the Middle East and the Balkan region; plans of further interaction at international organizations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Russia highly appreciates the respect and attention of the people of Slovakia to the memory of Soviet soldiers and officers who died for the liberation of that country (Slovakia). We are grateful to them for their careful upkeep of war graves and attitude of care to military cemeteries and memorials," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Lavrov will take part in a commemoration ceremony to be held at the WWII memorial to Soviet soldiers on Slavin Hill in Bratislava in connection with the 70th anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation from the Nazis by the Red Army on April 4.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Slovakia

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