Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming participation in the 4th Antalya Diplomacy Forum

On April 12, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the 4th Antalya Diplomacy Forum at the invitation of Foreign Minister of the Republic of Türkiye Hakan Fidan.

During the event, Sergey Lavrov is anticipated to outline the Russian Federation’s principal approaches to the pressing issues on the current global and regional agenda. Consultations with foreign counterparts are scheduled to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Russia welcomes the constructive disposition of Turkish counterparts towards fostering a mutually respectful political dialogue, a cornerstone of which remains the maintenance of top-level relations. On July 3, 2024, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a meeting on the sidelines of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana. Full-format negotiations between the leaders of our two nations took place in Kazan on October 23-24, 2024, during the BRICS summit.

Additional momentum to inter-parliamentary dialogue was provided by the official visits to the Russian Federation of Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Numan Kurtulmuş on September 23-26, 2024, and of Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko to the Republic of Türkiye on February 26-27. The heads of the Russian and Turkish parliaments held productive talks and were received by the leaders of both countries.

The dynamics of bilateral engagement set by the heads of state is actively upheld at all levels. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Hakan Fidan remain in regular contact (last meeting was held on February 24-25 in Ankara), alongside counterparts from other ministries and agencies.

The forthcoming meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Hakan Fidan will address a broad range of urgent regional and international issues.

In particular, recent developments in the zone of Palestinian-Israeli hostilities and across the Middle East as a whole will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on invigorating the international community’s efforts to achieve a sustainable settlement of the Middle East crisis, possible only through the realisation of the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to establish an independent state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Russia attaches particular importance to cooperation with Türkiye on Syria, given Ankara’s traditionally deep involvement in Syrian affairs. Russia steadfastly advocates for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria and is committed to joint efforts to stabilise the situation in the country, taking into account new realities.

Plans are also in place to thoroughly examine opportunities for deepening collaboration in the South Caucasus region, unblocking transport links and communications, and post-conflict reconstruction. In this context, the Russian side places significant hope in the activities of the 3+3 regional consultative platform, comprising Russia, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Georgia. The 3+3 ministerial meeting in Istanbul on October 18, 2024 demonstrated that this platform enables substantive discussions on practical aspects of coordinating steps in the political, trade, economic, social and humanitarian spheres.

During negotiations, the ministers will address bilateral trade and economic ties, cooperation in energy, finance, and other areas. Priority objectives include maintaining positive trade dynamics amid the adverse impact of Western sanctions on Russian-Turkish collaboration.

These and other topics, including increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements, were examined in detail during the 18th session of the Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation on November 25, 2023, in Ankara.

Separate discussions will focus on progress in strategic projects such as the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and the operation of the Blue Stream and Turkish Stream gas pipelines.

Türkiye remains a priority destination for Russian tourists. Russia ranked first in visitor numbers in 2023 and 2024, with 6.3 million and 6.7 million travellers, respectively. Building on the agreements reached during the 10th meeting of the Russian-Turkish Subgroup on Tourist Security and Rights Protection (Ankara, March 20-21), an exchange of views will take place on comprehensively ensuring the safety of Russian citizens at Turkish resorts.

Russia believes that the upcoming ministerial meeting will make a meaningful contribution to the further development of constructive relations between the two states and strengthen a strategic perspective on pressing international issues, guided by the national interests of Russia and Türkiye.