The meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Secretary-General Yousef Al-Othaimeen took place in July 3 in Moscow.
Foreign Minister emphasized that the Russian leadership makes great efforts to strengthen Russia's relationships with the OIC countries and organization itself, which is also supported by the society. Lavrov also valued the role of the Group of Strategic Vision "Russia - Islamic world":
-In this context, we noted the active work of the Group of Strategic Vision "Russia - Islamic world", which includes prominent politicians, experts, and former diplomats from Russia and Islamic states, dedicated to promoting various cultural and humanitarian initiatives and helping to deepen inter-civilizational and inter-religious dialogue.
A number of events dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the OIC are being planned by this group in 2019.
Sergey Lavrov also spoke about the further strengthen economic relations between Russia and the countries of the Islamic world. Russian Minister noted the importance of the International Economic Summit Russia-Islamic World held in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan: KazanSummit. Last year, the Secretary-General attended the event as an honorable guest.
In his turn, the Secretary-General of the OIC noted the improvement of Russia's relations with Saudi Arabia, which is reflected in the promotion of the values of moderate Islam.
The parties have exchanged their views on priority regional and international issues. Palestinian-Israeli settlement commitment has been reaffirmed to the existing international legal framework. Also, shared concern about the growing tension in the Gulf was expressed. The parties stressed the importance of restraint, the inadmissibility of escalation of tension. The parties also discussed the assistance of the Russian Federation and the OIC to international efforts to resolve conflicts in Muslim countries.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"