RIYADH, September 9. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the Russia - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministerial meeting for Strategic Dialogue, during which he will discuss reinforcement of regional security, settlement of crises and the state of the global economy.

Lavrov will have a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event. The sides are expected to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict area, Syria, Yemen, Libya and the conflict in Ukraine.

In addition, the agenda would include the international coordination on the hydrocarbon market, the implementation of joint projects, the expansion of trade and investment cooperation and nuclear energy.

The intensification of the strategic dialogue occurs amid an objective global trend of strengthening of new centers of growth and development beyond the historic West. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, many states of the global South and East achieve impressive economic results, carry out an increasingly independent foreign policy course and rely on their own national interests, own values, traditions and development models first and foremost.