MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Russia hopes for productive and useful talks of the foreign ministers of Sudan and South Sudan to be held in Moscow on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his South Sudanese counterpart Barnaba Benjamin on Wednesday.

"We aim at facilitating political dialogue, trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation," he said. "The potential for cooperation is considerable, and our task is to create favorable conditions for tapping it."

Moscow sincerely hopes it will be possible to overcome the crisis in South Sudan. "We favor the establishment of good-neighborly and friendly relations between Sudan and South Sudan," Lavrov said. "We hope that the talks of the foreign ministers of Sudan and South Sudan in Moscow on September 10 will be productive and useful."

For his part, Barnaba Benjamin said that he had brought greetings from the president and the people of his country. He noted that Moscow had always supported South Sudan in crisis situations, adding that his country was committed to developing economic ties and normalization of relations with Sudan.

The minister thanked Lavrov for organizing a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart on September 10, describing Russia’s role as a strategic contribution to the relations between the two countries.