Lavrov participating in Russia-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR, August 5. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is taking part in Russia-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ministerial meeting on Wednesday. Lavrov will meet with counterparts from China (Wang Yi), Turkey (Mevlut Cavusoglu), South Korea (Yung Byung-se), Malaysia (Anifah Aman) and Indonesia (Retno Marsudi)in the framework of the event, the Russian delegation told TASS. The Russian foreign minister will also hold meetings with US State Secretary John Kerry and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong. Lavrov already met with Kerry on August 3 in Qatar where they discussed the situation in Syria in the context of fighting against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization. This time, the top diplomats will focus on Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry said that Lavrov will exchange opinions with colleagues from Asia-Pacific countries "on pressing global and regional issues, including expansion of IS terrorist organization, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear program on the Korean Peninsula." They will also discuss "developing the economic part of dialogue partnership, implementing Russian proposals on boosting trade and mutual investment, improving regional transport and energy infrastructure." Russia and ASEAN countries will also discuss preparation of the Joint action plan on developing cooperation in this format for 2016-2020 and coordinate a document on strategic prospects of Russia-ASEAN ties. "This work will be facilitated by Russian-ASEAN ‘wise men group’. The decision on establishing this group is planned to be made at the ministerial meeting," the Russian foreign ministry said. Read more