Lavrov to visit Jordan, Saudi Arabia for talks

AMMAN — The Russian foreign ministry has announced that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to be on  a working visit to Saudi Arabia and Jordan between Saturday and Monday. 

During a press conference, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will meet senior officials in both countries to discuss means of cooperation with Riyadh and Amman, the Syrian crisis and the Gulf political rift, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In Amman, Lavrov will meet His Majesty King Abdullah and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, Zakharova said on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

During these meetings (in Jeddah and Amman), the sides will discuss in detail the current condition and prospects of consolidating Russia’s diverse relations with Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the spokesperson noted. 

"We hope to jointly analyse the implementation of relevant decisions and agreements reached earlier at the top level and agree on further specific steps on upgrading bilateral cooperation," she was quoted as saying on the website.

Zakharova added that current global and regional issues will feature prominently during the contacts, including support for Russia’s approaches and initiatives in the UN and other international agencies.

Jordan, the US and Russia have agreed to establish an expandable de-escalation in southern Syria. The tripartite agreement went into effect in July and was largely maintained.