MARRAKESH, December 20. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the growing role of Middle Eastern countries in solving the region's problems, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"In general, we welcome the growing tendency to increase the role of Middle Eastern countries in efforts to solve the problems of their own region," the top Russian diplomat said at the plenary session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum.

"This approach has already made it possible, in particular, to reach agreements on restoring relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, to accelerate the process of comprehensive normalization between Syria and its Arab neighbors through Syria's return to the League of Arab States," the minister added.