Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov Meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

PRESS RELEASE

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov met on March 26 with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who came to Moscow on a visit to attend the Special Conference on Afghanistan under the Aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Considering the topicality of this problem, the sides paid special attention to the situation in Afghanistan, including presidential elections in the country. The interlocutors also discussed issues relating to the Middle East settlement, the UN's role in Kosovo and the Korean Peninsula nuclear and missile problems. Sergey Lavrov and Ban Ki-moon exchanged views regarding continuation of the UN presence in Georgia and Abkhazia, taking into account the new realities in Transcaucasia.

Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's invariable policy of enhancing the role of the United Nations in addressing topical international problems and highly assessed its contribution to the maintenance of peace and stability, the ensuring of sustainable development and the struggle against global climate change.

Sergey Lavrov informed Ban Ki-moon in detail about the establishment and fostering of a dialogue with the new US administration on the entire range of bilateral relations and on the disarmament file.

The head of the Russian foreign affairs agency expressed gratitude to the UN Secretary General for his opening of a cycle of lectures, The Golden Collection, being conducted jointly by Russia's Foreign Ministry and the Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn magazine.

March 27, 2009