MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he hopes that Moscow and NATO will be able to discuss their relations in detail and to lay the groundwork for the summit in Lisbon during the ongoing visit to Russia by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"We hope that your visit and discussions in Moscow will allow us to discuss the development of relations between the Russian Federation and the alliance and their prospects," Lavrov said at a meeting with Rasmussen in Moscow on Wednesday.
The NATO secretary general plans to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later today, he said.
"The quality of preparations for the summit of the Russia-NATO Council due on November 20 is an important aspect. I hope that today we will be able to discuss specific aspects of these preparations and, during the meeting with the president, we will express our understanding of how we will hold this summit and how we will work after it," Lavrov said.
For his part, Rasmussen also stressed the importance of the upcoming summit in Lisbon, promising to do everything in his power to help this meeting produce concrete results.
Relations between NATO and Russia have serious potential, he said.