OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2010. As part of a working visit to Germany, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov held talks with German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on February 5.

Following discussion of an extensive agenda for Russian-German collaboration in bilateral affairs and on the international stage Lavrov and Westerwelle were unanimous in the assessment that the potential of trust and practical cooperation amassed between the two countries can serve as a guiding reference point for imparting positive dynamics to Russia-EU relations and Russia-NATO Council dialogue. The experience of the Modernization Partnership strategy, which has acquitted itself well in the Russian-German format, is apparently relevant in this context as a new quality of collaboration at the Russia-EU level. The two parties compared positions on European security in the light of the Russian initiative for a European Security Treaty, on the disarmament dossier, the situation in Afghanistan, in the Middle East peace process, around the Iranian nuclear program and on a number of other pressing international themes.

The ministers substantively discussed questions of the preparation and content of upcoming political contacts. The year’s central event in this regard will be the Twelfth Round of Interstate Consultations at the highest level, slated for the summer. The parties specified the plans to conduct under interstate and social auspices an array of commemorative events for the 65th anniversary of the Victory and the defeat of Nazism, the 20th anniversary of Germany’s reunification, and other round numbered dates of joint history being marked this year. A number of practical issues in Russian-German relations of mutual interest were touched on.

Sergey Lavrov at the Russian embassy in Berlin handed the commemorative medals for 65 Years of Victory in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, and the Russian Foreign Ministry Badges for contributions to international cooperation to the German antifascist veterans who fought in the Red Army ranks during the Great Patriotic War – Hannah Podymakhina, Stefan Doernberg, Moritz Moebel and Fritz Straube.