Lavrov and Shoigu will meet with French colleagues in Paris

On November 12, Russian Foreign and Defense Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu will meet in Paris with their French counterparts, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly. It is reported by TASS with reference to the French diplomatic department.

“On the sidelines of the International Conference on Libya, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Minister of the Armed Forces of France will receive their Russian counterparts, Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu, in Paris on November 12 within the framework of the Security Cooperation Council,” the statement said.

The parties will discuss topics of strategic stability and security in Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific region, military and political aspects of regional crises, especially in the light of the situation in Ukraine and in the Sahel-Saharan zone, which includes, in particular, Mali. France intends to express its concern over Russia’s actions.

Lavrov and Shoigu will also discuss with Le Drian and Parley issues of work within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani crisis. In addition, the discussion will focus on the early resumption of negotiations with Iran on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concerning the nuclear program.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the accusation of the Ukrainian side against Moscow of stopping the “Normandy format”. He said that Russia is ready for ministerial negotiations in the “Normandy format” and the summit, for this it is necessary to prepare a document in advance, but “with this the colleagues still have a problem.”