"The sides reaffirmed mutual desire to boost bilateral cooperation, implement mutually beneficial initiatives in trade, economy, culture and humanitarian efforts. The sides exchanged opinions on relevant regional and international matters. The sides agreed on Foreign Minister Stier's visit to Moscow," the ministry said in a statement.
In 2017, the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations established on February 17, 1992. Although the Russian-Croatian relations have traditionally been friendly, the current state of relations is affected by the fact that Croatia is a member of the European Union and NATO, which accuse Russia of annexing Crimea and meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs since 2014.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly denied allegations, saying that Crimea joined Russia as a result of a referendum in 2014, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine started when the Kiev troops launched a military operation against the country's eastern regions' militia, with no Russian involvement.
Lavrov has also met with the counterparts from Austria and South Korea and discussed issues of bilateral relations with them.
