BISHKEK, October 12. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA) in Bishkek on Thursday.

He arrived in the capital of Kyrgyzstan the night before. The last meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers took place in April in Samarkand, this time the event will be chaired by Kyrgyzstan.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the meeting participants will exchange views on current international and regional issues. It is highly likely that the ministers will pay attention to the most pressing topic of recent days - the aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They will also discuss the prospects for cooperation in the CIS format, including taking into account Russia’s upcoming chairmanship in the association from January 1, 2024.

The foreign ministers will meet the day before the CIS summit, which will also be held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on October 13. They are expected to approve draft joint statements on a number of important issues, which will then be submitted for consideration to the leaders of the CIS states. In addition, the ministers will approve a plan for inter-ministry consultations for 2024.

It is possible that Lavrov will take the opportunity to inform his colleagues about the current situation around Ukraine. Another pressing issue in the CIS space remains the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.