Russia, Turkmenistan to mull range of issues affecting interests of Caspian region

By  Trend

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in Ashgabat February 5-6, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is scheduled as part of the visit. Negotiations will be held with Turkmen deputy prime minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.

“The parties will consider the main issues on the bilateral agenda, a number of international and regional issues affecting the interests of the countries of the Caspian region,” the report said.

Special attention will be paid to the topic of cooperation within the CIS, taking into account the priorities of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship in this organization in 2019. During the visit, a program of cooperation between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Turkmen Foreign Ministry for 2019-2020 will be signed, the report noted.

Turkmenistan and Russia actively cooperate in the business sphere as well.

There are about 190 companies with Russian capital in Turkmenistan. ARETI has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea since 2009 based on a production sharing agreement.

Russia, a traditional trade partner of Turkmenistan, stopped the purchase of Turkmen gas in 2016. However, it was announced that the parties will start talks on resuming the Turkmen gas purchase by the company Gazprom.

A strategic partnership agreement between Turkmenistan and Russia was signed following the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Ashgabat in October 2017.