SOCHI, September 11. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the 8th Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Between Russia and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) in Sochi.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the event’s plenary session will address a wide range of issues on the international and regional agenda.

"Special attention will be focused on the prospects for the further development of cooperation between Russia and the GCC countries in the trade-and-economic, investment, and cultural-and-humanitarian spheres," she said, adding that the top Russian diplomat will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts.

The previous ministerial meeting was held in Riyadh in 2024.

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, includes six countries, namely Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. The Russia-GCC Strategic Dialogue was initiated in 2011.