On April 15, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, currently in Moscow on a working visit.

The two officials thoroughly exchanged views on key aspects concerning both international and regional matters, focusing on how to resolve through political and diplomatic means conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. Particular attention was paid to the developments in and around Syria. Moscow and Doha have expressed their principled stance as regards the lack of options to a peaceful settlement of the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic on the basis of international laws with preserving Syria as a sovereign, united and territorially integral state.

The ministers reiterated that they were committed to closely coordinating efforts on a wide range of regional issues, including Yemen, Libya, and a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. They also agreed on the importance of restoring Palestinian national unity.

Mr Lavrov and Mr al-Thani also addressed the further development of Russian-Qatari ties, particularly the implementation of agreements reached following the official visit of Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Russia in January 2016. In this regard, the two ministers noted how important it was to maintain a regular political dialogue between Moscow and Doha, steadily boost bilateral cooperation in the sphere of trade, economics and investment, as well as expanding interaction on global energy markets.