MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior advisor to the Iranian foreign minister on special political affairs, during their bilateral meeting pointed to the need to stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip and discussed Moscow-Tehran coordination in the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"[The sides] <...> emphasized the need for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and the speedy resolution of all the problems of a humanitarian nature that have arisen," the ministry pointed out.

During the conversation, the high-ranking diplomats discussed the emerging situation in the Middle East, focusing on the importance of continuing close coordination between Moscow and Tehran, including within the framework of the Astana format, in the interests of a comprehensive settlement in Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that Ali Asghar Khaji is a member of the delegation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who arrived in Moscow to participate a meeting of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Caspian States in Moscow.