NEW DELHI, July 17. /TASS/. The Maldives and Russia have very good relations and maintain a high level of cooperation, Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid told TASS on Monday.

"We have very good relations with Russia. The level of coordination and cooperation with Moscow is superb," he said.

According to the top Maldivian diplomat, a lot of students from his country are receiving education in Russia, primarily in medicine. "And we hope to send more students to Russia," he noted.

He recalled his visit to Moscow in 2019. "During my visit, I met with the Russian foreign minister [Sergey Lavrov] and we held very good talks," Shahid said, adding that his visit yielded an agreement on visa-free exchanges. Apart from that, back then, the Maldives announced its plans to open an embassy in Moscow. However, these plans were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.