Czech foreign minister discusses Putin visit in Moscow

The Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, met senior officials, including his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday. Plans for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to visit Prague were one of the main items on the agenda. However, speculation that President Putin, who has not visited the Czech Republic in his post, would come to Prague at the beginning of next year was not confirmed. Minister Svoboda and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed that relations between the Czech Republic and Russia were good.

On Monday Foreign Minister Svoboda opened a new embassy in the capital of Moldova, Chisenau. Previously, the Czech Embassy in the neighbouring state of Romania was responsible for Czech diplomatic relations in the former Soviet state.