MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"The parties discussed the current state of Russia-Pakistan relations, as well as regional and international issues, and also exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan," the ministry said following a meeting between the two top diplomats, which took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers.

In addition, the parties commended cooperation between Moscow and Islamabad on the international stage, "including on highly respected multilateral platforms such as the UN and the SCO." "They agreed to continue expanding ties between the two counties' foreign ministries," the statement added.