MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Following a meeting in Paris, Russian and French diplomats stressed the need to hold the summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) as soon as possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Patrick Durel, President Emmanuel Macron's advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, on April 27. Besides, the Russian diplomat discussed a wide range of Africa-related issues with the French foreign ministry’s director for Africa and Indian Ocean affairs, Christophe Bigot.
"In the wake of those meetings and conversations, it was stated that Russia and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, have a special role and responsibility for settling regional crises. The importance of Russia’s initiative to convene a summit of the five permanent UN Security Council members as soon as possible was underlined," the ministry said.
The sides "noted the high level of the Russian-French dialogue on Middle East and Africa and agreed to continue contacts and constructive cooperation between Moscow and France on topical issues of the international agenda."
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said that Bogdanov met with the French Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for Political Affairs and Security Philippe Errera and held consultations with the head of the Directorate for North Africa and the Middle East of the French Foreign Ministry, Christophe Farnaud.
"A detailed exchange of opinions about the state of affairs and development perspectives of the situation in the Middle East has taken place. Special attention was paid to the situation in Syria, Libya, Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," the ministry said, commenting on those meetings.
While addressing the World Holocaust Forum in Israel on January 23, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The initiative was supported by the remaining four permanent members - the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France. In his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on April 21, 2021, Putin said the leaders of the United Nations Security Council permanent member states could hold an in-person meeting when the coronavirus situation allows.
