OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2009. In conjunction with an upcoming ministerial session of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Helsinger the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, paid a short working visit to Denmark on June 3, during which he met with Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moeller. Lavrov also met separately with representatives of Danish big business operating in the Russian market.

The state of, and prospects for Russian-Danish relations were discussed, including the furtherance of political dialogue, economic and trade ties and the juridical base of bilateral cooperation.

Despite trade hitting a record of USD 3.67 billion at the end of 2008, it does not yet correspond to the economic potential of Russia and Denmark, the sides noted. Accordingly, they paid special attention to strengthening bilateral cooperation in the investment, science-intensive and high-tech sectors.

Interest was voiced in expanding energy cooperation, noting the significance of the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline for bolstering Europe’s energy security in this context.

In exchanging views on international issues special attention was paid to the prospects for the Russia-EU relationship, taking into account the outcome of the Khabarovsk summit and Russia’s initiative for a European Security Treaty. Some other topical themes were examined, among them preparations for an upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December, Arctic problems, and nonproliferation issues relating to Iran and the DPRK.