Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations of the Kingdom of Lesotho Lesego Makgothi, Sochi, February 13, 2019

Mr Minister,

I am delighted to welcome you to Russia.

Relations between our countries have a long and friendly history. They were established soon after Lesotho gained independence in 1980.

We maintain very good ties at the level of our permanent missions to the UN in New York. We highly appreciate the cooperation between our delegations. We are promoting ties between our parliaments, which we would like to become regular, as well as business-like and mutually beneficial relations between our security services.

We would like to boost our dialogue on international matters, including the African agenda, considering that you are an active member of a number of organisations, in particular the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Mr Minister, we have a positive agenda, and I hope that we will hold productive talks.

Once again, welcome to Russia.