MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan will hold talks in Moscow on Monday. This is the eight visit of the UAE diplomacy chief to Russia during his service in this position.

Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told reporters that the parties intend to discuss further development of bilateral cooperation, in particular implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Abu Dhabi in October last year.

Despite the difficulties of 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis, the two countries managed not only to avoid a decrease in the level of trade, but even to achieve significant growth. It was reported earlier that in January-September 2020, trade increased by 60.4% and amounted to $2.02 bln.

"We consider it important to agree on further coordinated steps that will allow not only to preserve this positive trend, but also to give it a long-term character," the Russian diplomatic service said.

Moscow also highly regards the level of investment partnership between the countries. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the UAE sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company have jointly implemented more than 50 projects worth more than $2.3 bln. "The plans are to expand the investment portfolio to $7 bln through new directions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

RDIF continues to cooperate in the fight against the spread of coronavirus with the relevant agencies of the UAE. At the moment, the third phase of trials of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is underway in the UAE.

According to Zakharova, the ministers intend to discuss the developing situation in the Middle East and North Africa. "Russia and the UAE are consistent supporters of the settlement of conflicts and crises in this strategically important region of the world using political methods, through an inclusive dialogue that takes into account legitimate interests and concerns of all parties involved. It was proposed to exchange views on the situation in Syria, Libya and Yemen," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

The talks will also touch upon the Palestinian-Israeli settlement in the context of the normalization of relations between a number of Arab countries, including the UAE, and Israel. The topic of security in the Persian Gulf region will also become the subject of discussion.