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Austrian top diplomat to discuss creation of Sochi Dialogue forum during visit to Russia

The minister has palns to arrive in Moscow on December 2

© AP Photo/Ronald Zak

VIENNA, November 6. /TASS/. Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl plans to visit Moscow on December 2-3 in order to discuss the creation of an Austrian-Russian public forum "Sochi Dialogue", the Austria Press Agency informed on Tuesday, citing the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

The visit was planned for November 9; however, the Austrian side chose to postpone it.

In late October, Kneissl stated that on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, both countries are working on creating an Austrian-Russian Sochi Dialogue public forum. The minister pointed out that the key aspects of cooperation between Russia and Austria include the ability to establish good human contact and maintain it on a cultural and economic level. This is why it is necessary to develop bilateral dialogue, as Russia and Germany did within the framework of the Petersburg Dialogue forum, she added.

During a meeting in Vienna in June 2018, Putin and Van der Bellen agreed to facilitate the realization of plans aimed at establishing the Sochi Dialogue public forum, which should become a platform for informal cooperation of Russian and Austrian civil societies.

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