OREANDA-NEWS. Talks took place on September 9 between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria Ursula Plassnik, who came to Moscow for a working visit.

Having discussed a broad spectrum of issues in Russian-Austrian relations, the ministers gave a high appraisal of the state of, and prospects for bilateral cooperation in all fields, including political dialogue, economic, cultural, legal and humanitarian interaction, and ties between regions of the two countries. Measures were outlined for completion of the preparation of a number of intergovernmental agreements.

The sides welcomed the intention of the scientific communities of both countries to form a joint Commission for the study of the recent history of Russian-Austrian relations and expressed the belief that this independent body will build its work on the principles of objective scientific analysis and make a valuable contribution to an unbiased, free of political engagement, perception by the public of the historical past.

In the international part of the talks the focus was mainly on the situation surrounding South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Sergey Lavrov gave a principled assessment of the consequences of Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia and explained the main items of the positions agreed to yesterday by the Russian and French presidents on the implementation of the peaceful settlement plan.

Questions of cooperation between Russia and the European Union also were discussed. The ministers exchanged views on topical problems of European stability and security, on the prospects of Middle East settlement and on some other international themes.