Russian, French foreign ministers discussing Iraq, Syria, Ukraine
PARIS. Oct 14 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius have started negotiations in Paris.
The agenda of the talks includes the crisis in Ukraine and the Islamic State's offensive in northern Iraq and Syria.
Lavrov and Fabius are also expected to discuss the delivery of the Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia. The first of the two vessels being built at French shipyards, the Vladivostok, was to be transferred to Russia at the end of October, but Paris recently made it understood that the Mistral contract's completion would depend on the peace process in southeastern Ukraine, including the implementation of the Minsk protocol.
Paris and Moscow have actively maintained diplomatic contacts in the past several months. The previous meeting between Lavrov and Fabius took place at an international conference on the situation in Iraq in Paris in September, during which the French, Russian, and German foreign ministers also met to address the crisis in Ukraine. French Senator and special governmental representative on relations with Russia Jean-Pierre Chevenement also visited Moscow in September.
