Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit

On 24 July, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited the headquarters of the Arab League and met with the organisation’s Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

During their conversation, Sergey Lavrov and Ahmed Aboul Gheit expressed satisfaction with the high level of interaction between Russia and the Arab League in the interests of resolving crises in the Middle East and North Africa and strengthening regional security and stability.

The officials devoted considerable attention to the prospects for expanding trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Arab countries. They also reaffirmed their mutual interest in invigorating Russian-Arab business ties with the aim of expanding trade, promoting industrial co-production arrangements and implementing joint projects in Russia and Arab League countries.

They exchanged opinions on topical aspects of the regional agenda and focused on the search for ways to resolve crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in line with the existing international legal instruments, including the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, which was approved at the 2002 Arab League summit.

Sergey Lavrov addressed permanent representatives of Arab League countries at the Arab League headquarters and informed them, in great detail, about the goals and tasks of the special military operation in Ukraine. He thanked them for their well-thought-out position, formalised in earlier Arab League statements on this issue.