By Rhod Mackenzie
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is holding talks in Moscow with the Foreign Ministers of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf (GCC).
"I am grateful that you have responded to our proposal to hold the 6th meeting of the Russia-GCC Strategic Dialogue in our capital," Lavrov said opening the meeting. He recalled that Moscow is hosting this event for the second time, the first time was in 2016.
According to the minister, this format "has proven itself as an effective mechanism for exchanging views on key regional and global issues, ways of developing economic and humanitarian cooperation between our countries." He also expressed the hope that today's meeting will give "an additional impetus to the strengthening of Russia's interaction with the member states of the Council."
Lavrov stressed that relations between Russia and the GCC countries continue to develop progressively, as evidenced by the "significantly increased dynamics of contacts at the highest and high levels over the past year"
"Russia and the countries of the cooperation council have all the necessary mechanisms to successfully solve the common tasks facing us, promote mutually beneficial partnership, and transfer it to a systemic strategic basis. The relevant departments of our countries and business structures are taking consistent steps to expand economic ties," he said. minister.
“Despite the difficult geopolitical conditions, we manage to maintain a positive trend in mutual trade: last year, trade between Russia and your countries increased by more than 6% compared to the previous year and exceeded $11 billion. Of course, not with every country present here Trade is developing evenly, but the overall trend is positive, and as for the individual reserves that exist within the framework of bilateral relations in the trade and economic sphere, of course, during today's separate meetings, we will talk about this in more detail," Lavrov stressed.
He added that during the meeting "the whole range of challenges facing the Middle East, including the strategically important area of the Gulf" will be discussed: "Let's touch on the topic of creating a regional collective security system in the interests of effectively countering numerous challenges and threats."
The GCC includes six Arab countries: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
This article originally appeared in Russian at interfax.ru