KIRKENES, October 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has completed his official visit to Norway's Kirkenes on Friday.
Lavrov visited Kirkenes to take part in celebrations of the 75th anniversary of northern Norway's liberation from Nazi occupation by the Red Army. This was the third visit of the Russian foreign minister to Kirkenes. Lavrov last visited in 2014 to take part in celebrations of the 70th anniversary of northern Norway's liberation.
Norway's King Harald V and Prime Minister Erna Solberg also took part in the celebrations. However, the Russian delegation headed by the foreign minister and accompanied by journalists was most impressed not by the scale of celebrations, but rather by the warmth and sincerity with which Norwegians remembered and honored the heroes of the Second World War.
Peaceful border
Apart from taking part in celebrations, Lavrov held comprehensive talks with his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Soreide in the border museum. Before the talks, the foreign ministers opened an exhibition of old maps dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Treaty between the USSR and Norway on the joint border regime and procedure for settling border conflicts and incidents from 1949.
Lavrov noted that the border between Russia and Norway can be described as "the most peaceful" in Europe. Soreide in turn presented a photograph to Lavrov which confirms his words - it showed Russian and Norwegian border guards shaking hands across the border.
Mediator with NATO
The foreign ministers openly discussed the situation in northern Europe, including increased NATO activity on the territory of Norway. Lavrov said that he does not consider Norway to be a security threat but noted that Moscow needs to consider the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty in Norway in its military planning.
The Norwegian foreign minister in turn confirmed that Oslo's basis policy (non-stationing of foreign military bases in peaceful times) remains relevant. Lavrov added that resumed contacts between Russian and Norwegian defense ministries should help strengthen trust between Moscow and Oslo.
The Russian foreign minister reminded about the long tradition of Norwegian diplomacy and suggested for Oslo to facilitate normalization of dialogue between Russia and NATO. "Venezuela is important [Norway mediates in talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition], but Europe is close," Lavrov said.
Syrian zones
Lavrov told a press conference that he informed Soreide about the implementation of the Russian-Turkish joint memorandum on Syria. Commenting on the proposal of Germany's foreign minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to establish an international security zone in northeastern Syria, the Russian foreign minister reminded that "Russian-Turkish agreements supported by both Damascus and Kurds already exist." "If we are talking about NATO wanting to take this task upon itself, then this idea brings nothing good, and one should not try to make better something that already works," he noted.
Berg's return
Norwegian reporters asked Lavrov a lot of questions about the fate of Norwegian national Frode Berg jailed in Russia for espionage. Lavrov said that Berg may return home "as soon as his petition for pardoning is considered."
The Russian foreign minister stressed that the "spy theme" does not affect bilateral relations in any way.