The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Juraj Blanár, met with the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, at the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta on Thursday. TASR informs about this based on the contribution of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the social network Facebook.
“We discussed the development in the OSCE, where just today (Thursday) an agreement was reached in the election of the four highest positions in the OSCE leadership, including the election of the Secretary General, who became the Turkish candidate Feridun Sinirlioglu,” explained the head of Slovak diplomacy, who also opened the door with the Russian minister topics related to national interests in the field of energy resources.
According to him, it is in the interest of the Slovak Republic to preserve the existing corridors from the Russian Federation for the transit of oil and gas, which are reliable and price stable. “Even though we are working on diversifying these supplies, it is important for us to have secured supplies in the quantity we need and at a favorable price,” declared Blanár.
The Russian side has confirmed that it is ready to continue to comply with its delivery obligations. According to the statement, the ministers also discussed negotiations between the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Denisa Sakova and the Director General of the Slovak Gas Industry (SPP) in St. Petersburg on gas supplies to Slovakia.
The head of Slovak diplomacy also reiterated the Slovak Republic’s consistent view of the military conflict in Ukraine, emphasizing the violation of international law. Blanár appealed to the Russian side in connection with peace negotiations, stopping the killing as soon as possible and emphasized that it is necessary to look for diplomatic solutions in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.
According to him, the participation of all global actors is essential at the upcoming peace summit. He also emphasized again that Slovakia supports peace initiatives in Ukraine and that it also joins the peace initiative of China and Brazil.
In addition to this meeting, Juraj Blanár also held talks with the head of Armenian diplomacy, Ararat Mirzojan. They discussed the situation and stability in the South Caucasus region and the normalization of Armenia’s relations with its neighbors.
“I very positively evaluate the efforts of Armenia in the peace settlement with Azerbaijan, which are in the final phase and which Slovakia intensively supports,” noted Blanár. .
The head of Slovak diplomacy also met for the first time in Malta with the new Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Bočorišviliová. At the meeting, Blanár emphasized that Slovakia is a long-term friend and supporter of Georgia.
“We encourage Georgia to stay on the European integration path, but at the same time the Slovak Republic does not interfere in the internal affairs of other states, therefore we respect that the pace of integration is within the competence of the Georgian government,” added Juraj Blanár.
