OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2009. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, accompanying Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on a state visit to the Swiss Confederation, met with Head of Switzerland’s Federal Department (Minister) of Foreign Affairs Micheline Calmy-Rey on September 21. In the conversation, both sides underscored the importance of the first visit by a Russian head of state to Switzerland as a strong impetus for bilateral cooperation.

Issues of inter-MFA cooperation, including a schedule of expert consultations on pressing international problems, were discussed. The exchange of views focused on European security and regional conflict settlement.

Lavrov and Calmy-Rey jointly attended the unveiling ceremony in Lausanne of a monument to Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias, an outstanding Russian 19th-century politician and diplomat, Russia’s first ambassador to Switzerland (1814-1815), who directly participated in the development of the general principles of government and the neutral status of the Swiss Confederation.

The opening of the monument in the context of a Russian-Swiss summit underlines Russia’s historical engagement in the destinies of Europe, its contribution to the creation of an independent and neutral Swiss state, and the centuries-old tradition of friendly relations between the two countries.