On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel who is currently on a working visit to Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "In particular, they are planned to discuss the situation in North Africa, the Sahara-Sahel region, Libya and Syria, as well as the Palestine-Israel conflict and other issues of mutual interest," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Algeria was one of Russia’s major partners in Africa and the Arab world with bilateral trade reaching $3.2 bln in the first ten months of 2017. In particular, the parties signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, a healthcare cooperation program and an education cooperation program. "We believe that conditions have been created for further close cooperation with Algeria so our friendly relations will continue to evolve," the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 18, 2018 23:26 UTC