Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s talks with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu

On March 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was on a working visit to Antalya, Turkey, at the invitation of Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu. During his visit, Sergey Lavrov held a number of bilateral talks.

During his talks with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, Sergey Lavrov informed his counterpart of the progress in and objectives of the special military operation that the Russian Armed Forces are carrying out in Ukraine. The Russian side emphasised that NATO’s long-standing expansion in Eastern Europe quite close to Russia’s borders, the deployment of offensive weapons there and the beefing up of the nationalist regime in Kiev, which has refused to comply with the Minsk agreements, with weapons have led to the unprecedented escalation of military tensions, to which we had to respond.   

The foreign ministers touched upon key aspects of the international agenda, including the settlement processes in the South Caucasus and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the Black Sea area and at international organisations.

The two ministers compared notes on the topical issues of the Russian-Turkish political dialogue and cooperation in trade and the economy.

They also discussed the schedule of the upcoming top- and high-level meetings.