OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2009. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Denisov who had arrived to the Turkmen capital on a working visit.

Thanking for the opportunity of a personal meeting the high-ranking official of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed the heartfelt greetings and best wishes on behalf of the leadership of the Russian federation.

Greeting the guest the Turkmen leader focused with satisfaction at the high level of the intergovernmental collaboration and put emphasis of the significant importance that Turkmenistan attached to enhancing the Turkmen-Russian relations as a strategic priority of its foreign policy strategy.

Exchanging views on further development of long-term mutually advantageous cooperation the sides focused on the significance of the Turkmen leader’s state visit to the Russian Federation scheduled for this March. A. Denisov emphasized that Russia viewed this visit as a landmark in the history of the bilateral relationships as well as an event of regional and international significance.

Noting that in recent years the Turkmen-Russian dialogue remarkable for the transparent, constructive and friendly character had been filled with a new content the sides discussed the major trends in its further development on the basis of the ongoing progressive reforms in Turkmenistan and intense interest of Russia’s business circles in expanding on the very promising Turkmen market. Particular attention was paid to energy partnership. The guest said that Russia that had coauthored the UN Resolution on the Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy and Its Role in Ensuring the Sustainable Development and International Cooperation stood ready for closest collaboration in the fuel and energy sector where both countries had accumulated the profound experience of joint fruitful work. The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs focused on the significance of this initiative in the context of the global political tendencies and search of the approaches to achieving global energy security.

Characterizing humanitarian cooperation as an important field of the intergovernmental relations the sides noted that the particular steps had been taken to enhance and expand it. Emphasis was put on the mutual willingness to intensify efforts to maintain this cooperation in the spheres of education, science and culture in particular.

The sides touched upon the aspects of cooperation in the framework of the large international and regional organisations including the United Nations and the CIS. In particular, the sides noted that Turkmenistan as an associated member of the Commonwealth actively contributed to designing the optimal model of cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral bases. In this regard the sides appreciated the significance of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the CIS and the CIS Agricultural Forum which would be held on the initiative of Turkmenistan in Ashgabat this year.

In conclusion the guest thanked Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for giving an opportunity to discuss a wide range of the issues of mutual interest during the personal meeting and wished good health and success in all undertakings and endeavours.

RF Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkmenistan I. Batov attended the meeting.