Spanish Foreign Minister Dastis Invites Lavrov to Visit Spain in 2017

Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis invited Thursday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to visit Spain in 2017, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said.

MADRID (Sputnik) – The Russian and Spanish foreign minister met on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council to discuss development of bilateral relations, Syrian crisis and the fight against terrorism among the issues.

"As well, the two ministers exchanged mutual invitations to visit corresponding countries in 2017, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of reestablishment of Russian-Spanish diplomatic relations," the ministry said in a statement.

Additionally, Lavrov and Dastis discussed non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the light of the upcoming meeting of the UN Security Council on December 15. The meeting will be devoted to the review of the Resolution 1540, obliging UN member-states to refrain from supporting by any means non-state actors from developing, acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, transporting, transferring or using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their delivery systems.

The 23rd Ministerial Council of the OSCE kicked off earlier in the day and is expected to wrap up on Friday. The event has gathered together diplomats from the OSCE participating states, including Russia, as well as from 11 partners for cooperation to discuss major security issues.