Turkmenistan: Russian FM to Visit Ashgabat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov in Ashgabat on March 15.

Lavrov will use his two-day stay to discuss "prospects for expanding mutually beneficial economic relations, increasing trade, intensifying cooperation between Russia's regions and Turkmenistan," the semi-official Turkmenistan.ru quoted Andrei Nesterenko, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, as saying on March 11.

"Urgent international issues, the situation in Central Asia and increasing interaction between the foreign ministries of Russia and Turkmenistan will be also touched upon," the report added. Berdymukhammedov has been invited to visit Moscow in May.