Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Antalya today, where he will participate in a diplomatic forum at the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Russian-Turkish negotiations on current international and bilateral issues will be held on Saturday.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova announced that the forum is scheduled to include a speech by the minister and several bilateral meetings. “It is planned to discuss key aspects of the international agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, in the Caucasus and the Black Sea region, as well as current issues of relations with individual countries“, the diplomat said.
The forum will continue until April 13 under the motto “Restoring diplomacy in a fragmented world“. The event is expected to be attended by about 450 representatives from 140 countries, including 20 heads of state and government. One of the high-ranking guests of this forum will be the interim President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
According to Zakharova, Lavrov plans to hold many bilateral meetings during the forum, at which Ukraine will also be discussed, but a meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is not expected.
Lavrov is participating in the diplomatic forum in Antalya for the third time. As a rule, in his speech, the minister briefly outlines current foreign policy issues and sets out Russia's position on them. This will be followed by a moderated question-and-answer session.
In 2025, the forum is taking place against the backdrop of a turbulent international situation. It is possible that the head of the diplomatic department will share his assessments of the current relations with the United States, the dialogue with which has slowly begun to be restored after Donald Trump came to the White House.
Another topic that the minister will most likely touch upon is the current situation around Ukraine.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry is also expected to speak about Moscow's position on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program.
Lavrov will hold a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ministers plan to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and the Middle East as a whole.
“The focus is on the task of intensifying the efforts of the international community in the interests of a sustainable settlement of the Middle East crisis, which is possible only if the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to establish their own state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital is realized,“ the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The two will discuss in detail the issues of cooperation in the Transcaucasian region, the unblocking of transport and communications links, and post-conflict reconstruction. Separately, work on strategic projects for the construction of the “Akkuyu“ nuclear power plant and the operation of the “Blue Stream“ gas pipelines will be discussed. and “Turkish Stream“.