MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Sudan on December 3 to meet with his counterpart Ali Karti and the country’s President Omar Bashir, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Monday.
"During the talks in Khartoum, urgent regional and international issues with an emphasis on the development of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the issues of further expansion of bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade and other areas will be discussed," the ministry said.
Lavrov's visit will be his first since South Sudan broke away from Sudan. The Russian foreign minister will also participate in the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum during the visit.
The Foreign Ministry added that Sudan has been a longtime partner of Moscow in the Arab world and the African continent, pointing out that the two countries share "traditional friendship and mutual respect."
The ministry also confirmed that the second meeting of a joint Russian-Sudanese ministerial committee, which was established in December 2013, will take place in Moscow on December 10-12.
