MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter seeks to discuss cooperation with Russia in various areas, particularly peacebuilding, he said Monday kicking off a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
"I came here with two goals – first objective is to discuss bilateral cooperation, to review what is functioning well and what can be improved. And the second objective is the politics of peace and what we can do to resolve the conflicts, a lot of work is required for that. We need to discuss what each of us can contribute to international peace," Burkhalter said.
The sides plan to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation and international agenda with the specific focus on strengthening European security, according to Lavrov.
"I always believed our relations with Russia are the ties that should be strong and multi-faceted," Burkhalter told reporters.
Bilateral relations and Moscow-Bern cooperation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are also on the two ministers’ meeting agenda.
Lavrov and Burkhalter are due to consider the complex issues related to the implementation of Switzerland’s protecting power mandate in representing the interests of Russia in Georgia (since December 13, 2008) and Georgia in Russia (since January 12, 2009) since Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Moscow.
