OREANDA-NEWS. Talks took place on February 26 in Moscow between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark, Per Stig Moller, who paid a working visit to Russia.

Mutual interest in consistently developing the full range of relations between our countries, including intensifying political dialogue, solidifying the juridical base of bilateral cooperation, increasing economic interaction, expanding interregional ties, and implementing joint measures to counter international terrorism and combat piracy was expressed.

The prospects for strengthening the Russia-European Union partnership were examined – including the development of cooperation at the regional level.

Topical international security issues were discussed, among them preparation of a European Security Treaty, the situation in the Caucasus, Middle East settlement, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. An exchange of views also took place on the upcoming 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2009 in Copenhagen.

The good prospects for strengthening our countries’ partnership in the Arctic were stated. On this issue Russia and Denmark proceed from the necessity of strict observance of the accords reached at the Arctic Ocean Conference in Ilulissat, Greenland, in May 2008, pursuant to which all possible issues must be tackled by the Arctic states on the basis of the existing norms of international law. In discussing Arctic problems, the topicality of Russia’s initiative to establish security systems in the realization of economic and infrastructure projects in the Arctic was noted; it calls for monitoring and prevention and clean-up of man-made accidents and disasters, in particular at oil and gas extraction and transportation facilities.

Current efforts were reviewed in refocusing cooperation within the Council of the Baltic Sea States on concrete tasks in promoting significant regional projects in line with the decisions of the meeting of heads of government of the Baltic Sea states in Riga in June 2008.