The meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov, who is arriving in Moscow to participate in the 12th meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Turkmen Commission on Economic Cooperation was scheduled for Tuesday, December 6.

Lavrov and Meredov will discuss topical issues of partnership with a focus on trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and educational spheres. It is expected to exchange views on the regional and international agenda, Afghan issues and on interaction on multilateral platforms, primarily in the CIS, in the "CA5+" formatsRussia" and the "Caspian Five", the UN.

"Turkmenistan is a strategic partner of Russia in the Central Asian region," reads a media statement published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the eve of the talks. It is specified that signed during the official visit of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Russian Federation on June 10, 2022 The Declaration on deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries confirmed the mutual intention to strengthen and expand multifaceted cooperation.

"Russia is among the most significant trading partners of Turkmenistan. In the eight months of 2022, the volume of trade turnover reached 474.8 million US dollars, Russian exports to Turkmenistan amounted to 357.8 million US dollars, imports from Turkmenistan to Russia – 117.0 million US dollars," the message reads.

It is noted that since April 2019, Gazprom has resumed purchases of Turkmen natural gas, the volume of supplies of which is growing annually. Dozens of large Russian companies, including KAMAZ, Tatneft, and Vozrozhdenie, operate on the Turkmen market.

As for interregional ties, the most active contacts have been established with Tatarstan, Astrakhan and Chelyabinsk regions, and St. Petersburg. Within the framework of the joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, there is a high-level Group to support trade and investment, create a favorable business climate for Russian and Turkmen companies.

Turkmenistan was among the first to register Russian anti-coronavirus drugs Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona and Sputnik Lite on its territory. Last year, 330 thousand sets of Sputnik V vaccine were delivered to Ashgabat, and in January 2022, 800 thousand doses of Sputnik Lite were delivered, of which 300 thousand were free of charge.

More than 30 thousand students from Turkmenistan study at Russian universities. The most popular Turkmen youth are educational institutions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Tver. The parties are working on the issue of opening a Russian-Turkmen University in Ashgabat, as well as the construction of an additional building of the Joint Russian-Turkmen Secondary School named after A.S.Pushkin (for junior classes).

At the end of the message it is said that in 2023 it is planned to hold a number of previously postponed events in the field of culture, including cross-cultural days, a week of Russian cinema in Turkmenistan, exchange tours of leading theaters.

On Monday, December 5, talks were held in Moscow between the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan - Sergey Lavrov and Jeyhun Bayramov.

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