CARACAS, November 15. /TASS/. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto has departed to Russia on a visit that includes talks with his Russian counterpart, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday.

"Yvan Gil is now headed to Russia to hold an important meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow," Maduro said at a meeting with Venezuelan diplomats, aired live by Venezolana de Televisión.

The president said that Pinto is to meet with Lavrov and other Russian officials on November 16.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on November 9 that the Russian foreign minister would hold talks with the foreign minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on November 16. The ministers will exchange views on topical international and regional issues and cooperation within the UN, including interaction within the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the UN and other multilateral forums, the diplomat said. In her words, the two diplomats would also discuss further steps to "expand mutually beneficial ties in the trade and economic, scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres, building a model of cooperation that is resistant to illegal, unilateral coercive measures.".