© Sputnik/ Eugene OdinokovQatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov will hold talks with his Qatari counterpart, Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Thani, in the Russian capital on Saturday.
"During their meeting in Moscow, the foreign ministers of Russia and Qatar will compare views on key issues in the Middle East with a focus on settlement options for regional crises and firm resistance to international terrorism. The ministers will exchange opinions on a wide range of current regional and international issues, as well as bilateral relations," the statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministers will discuss the situation in Syria, military as well as political, and prospects "for promoting a political process with constructive international assistance," the statement read.
Another topic on the agenda of the meeting will be the development of the bilateral relations between Russia and Qatar, including political dialogue and trade and economic ties, the ministry added.
Qatar Hopes to Overcome Differences on Syrian Crisis With Russia Soon
In general, Qatar and Russia share similar views on the Syrian crisis settlement, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said Saturday, expressing hope that the countries overcome several differences on the issue soon.
"Speaking of the Syrian problem, we agree on many issues, the most important of which - a necessity to respect the territorial integrity of the country and to put an end to suffering of the Syrian people, " Al-Thani said after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
"We have certain differences between each other on how to achieve these goals, but I hope that through constructive dialogue we will manage to work through the contradictions and we will achieve security and stability in Syria soon," the Qatari minister added.
Qatar Hopes to Make Positions on Int'l Issues Closer With Russia
Qatar hopes to reach mutual understanding with Russia by making the countries' positions on international issues closer, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said on Saturday at the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that took place in Moscow.
Al-Thani pointed out that he was going to discuss with Lavrov the situation in Yemen, Libya and Palestine.
"It is very important for us in this difficult time for Middle East suffering from a big number of conflicts that there is an opportunity to exchange our points of view on the Syrian settlement. We are sure that through dialogue and such meetings we will get an opportunity to make our positions closer, to find a common ground, common denominator, and in such a way to reach mutual understanding and agreements," the minister said.
He added that there was potential for further development of bilateral ties.
The minister also stated that Qatar is supporting Astana format of negotiations on Syrian settlement.
He said that the parties discussed Astana talks during the meeting.
"We expressed support for the talks because we consider them as an important support for Geneva political process," Al-Thani said.
Russia, Qatar Have New Plans on Increasing Investment - Lavrov
Russia and Qatar have new plans on increasing investment, including through the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday at a press conference after talks with his Qatar's counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani in Moscow.
According to the Russian foreign minister, the countries are going to involve the Russian Direct Investment Fund in bilateral investment.
"We agreed that at the next session of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic development that will take place in Doha in late April, measures on boosting the positive trend and on further development of our bilateral ties will be considered," Lavrov said.
As regards to trade and economic cooperation, the meeting between the ministers comes ahead of the third meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation, co-chaired by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Doha in late April.
Qatar Vows to Continue Cooperation With Russia on Stabilizing Oil Prices
Qatar wants to develop cooperation with Russia on coordinating countries' positions on stabilizing oil prices, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said on Saturday.
In November 2016, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member states reached an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to boost global oil prices.
"Today we held a constructive meeting with my colleague Minister Lavrov. A significant progress has been achieved, we managed to achieve much in bilateral relations since 2016 when a high-level meeting took place in Moscow. We see that a powerful impetus especially in the sphere of investment was given. We continue our efforts on cooperation in the gas sphere as well as agreements on cooperation under the aegis of OPEC for maintaining oil prices at the level we need," Al-Thani said after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The OPEC agreement was supported by 11 non-OPEC states, which joined the deal by promising to jointly reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. Russia pledged to cut production by 300,000 barrels daily. The OPEC has already implemented its commitment while non-cartel countries have implemented over half of the agreed upon cuts.
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