Russia's Lavrov in Turkmenistan for economic talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat on a two-day visit on Monday to discuss bilateral economic cooperation issues, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Lavrov is due to meet with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov for talks on widening economic ties, as well as boosting trade and cooperation between Russian and Turkmen regions.

 

"Russia highly values its relations with Turkmenistan, and attaches significance to the further strengthening and developing of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation and interaction in politics, trade and economics, culture and education," Andrei Nesterenko said.

 

Russia is Turkmenistan's main foreign trade partner, with gas the major area of cooperation. Turkmenistan is second after Russia for gas production and exports among former Soviet republics. The export of Turkmen gas to Russia is via the "Central Asia-Center" pipeline.