Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 18 to discuss preparations for the OSCE summit in Astana slated for early December and prospects for cooperation within the Russia-NATO Council.

“The foreign ministers of the two countries discussed key bilateral and international issues. Particularly, they discussed preparations for the OSCE summit in Astana scheduled for the beginning of December and prospects for cooperation within the Russia-NATO Council,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“Both parties exchanged views on European security and control over conventional weapons in Europe. Lavrov and Clinton touched on the Middle East settlement, including in the context of stepping up the role of the Quartet for Middle East Peace, and Russian-U.S. interaction on other key regional problems – the situation in Afghanistan, Sudan and Trancaucasia,” it said.

Lavrov and Clinton discussed the schedule for upcoming bilateral contacts and the work of the Russian-U.S. Presidential Commission. They coordinated steps towards promoting practical agreements within their working groups, Itar-Tass reported.