Lavrov to visit Sudan for talks on situation in Mideast, North Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will make a working visit to the Republic of Sudan on Wednesday to meet with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and hold talks with Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti.
This is Lavrov’s first visit to Sudan after the separation of the country’s southern regions in 2011. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the visit was aimed at confirming Moscow’s drive for “contributing to completing the inter-Sudanese settlement based on the international legal framework and the stable normalisation in Darfur on the basis of the Peace Treaty signed in Doha in May 2011”.
During the talks, the parties will discuss key regional and international problems with the focus on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa and consider further strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the political, trade, economic and other fields.
Sudan is Russia’s long-standing partner in the Arab world and on the African continent, the ministry said.
“Our countries are tied by the traditional relations of friendship and mutual respect, long-term co-operation in various spheres based on respect for each other’s interests. We are interested in a stable, progressively developing Sudan, its active positive role in international and regional affairs,” the ministry said.
“The Intergovernmental Russian-Sudanese Commission on trade-economic co-operation works since December 2013. At present the sides are conducting active joint work for the preparation of its second meeting that is planned for December 10 -12 in Moscow,” it said.
During the Sudan visit Lavrov will also attend the second session of the Russian-Arab Co-operation Forum at the ministerial level. “Moscow attaches major importance to the strengthening of the collective interaction mechanisms with the League of Arab States (LAS) as an influential pan-Arab organisation,” the ministry said.
“Russia and Arab countries have close approaches to most issues of the global agenda, including arms control, countering new challenges and threats, including the terrorism threat, human rights,” the ministry said.