Russia, Pakistan view Pakistan Stream project as priority task - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi have defined the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline and other energy projects, as well as a larger trade turnover, as a priority of bilateral cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov and Qureshi met on the sidelines of a ministerial conference of Afghanistan's neighbors in Tunxi, China.

The sides "expressed the readiness to enhance the multifaceted bilateral cooperation and set as priority tasks an increase of the trade turnover and the implementation of a number of energy projects, among them the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline," a statement, published on the ministry's website after the meeting, said.

In addition, the ministers discussed global and regional affairs and supported diplomatic efforts aimed at settling the Ukraine crisis, the ministry said.

"The sides reaffirmed the need for further coordination of efforts, primarily within the framework of the Extended Troika (Russia, the United States, China, and Pakistan) and the Moscow format for the sake of stability and security in Afghanistan," it said.