MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko and the chief of the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Directorate General for Political Affairs and Security, Pasquale Ferrara, discussed on Friday preparations for an upcoming meeting of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers in the ‘two plus two’ format.

The diplomats "discussed the format and the agenda of the upcoming ministerial meeting," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. At their meeting, they "considered a number of key issues of bilateral cooperation with an emphasis on the development of multifaceted cooperation on the political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian fronts," it added.

Alexander Grushko and Pasquale Ferrara also considered "key topics on the international agenda, including issues of European security, Russia’s relations with the European Union and NATO, and the situation in the Balkans," the ministry reported.

"Special focus was on the developments in Afghanistan," it noted. The diplomats "emphasized a bid to continue the development of contacts between the foreign and defense ministries of the two countries in the interests of an efficient and balanced solution of key international issues".

The sides signed a plan of consultations between the foreign ministries for 2022. Representatives from the defense ministries also participated in the consultations.