Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted the steady progress towards elevation of UAE-Russia ties into a strategic partnership "We have discussed several key points of the bilateral agenda within the context of the joint understanding that we reached during the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Moscow last April. We underlined that firm progress had been made with regards to expanding bilateral ties into a strategic partnership. We value the commitment of our fellows in the UAE to continue joint work.'' ''We have new avenues for joint co-operation as parliamentary relations are growing. Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council, will represent the UAE at the 137th IPU Assembly and related events in St. Petersburg, Russia, next October,'' he added.

He said trade, economic and investment relations have been developing well thanks to the UAE-Russia committee. ''Further steps have been taken to support companies to expand trade exchange and increase investment and co-operation in areas of energy, industry and banking," he said.

Expressing his satisfaction at the increasing number of Russian tourists to the UAE, he said, ''Russian residents have valued the care and attention they receive during their stay in the UAE.'' The Russian foreign minister affirmed that Russia and the UAE have identical positions in fighting terrorism vehemently and the need to suppress extremist and terrorist ideologies. He further informed that the UAE and Russian talks took stock of the latest developments in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq, in addition to finding a settlement to the Palestinian cause.

''The UAE and Russia maintain close approaches towards all these files and the two countries are keen to boost joint co-ordination towards all these issues,'' he stressed.

Answering a question about Syria, the Russian minister noted the keenness to fully implement the UNSC Resolution 2254, which sets out a clear roadmap for a political settlement of the crisis along with the need to combat all terrorists who are entrenched in Syrian territories as well as those who have come to Syria from other countries.

The Syrian opposition is required to act realistically and stay away from the rhetoric of threatening to implement the resolution, he affirmed.

"The fate of Syria will be decided by the Syrians themselves. There should be no pre-conditions and both the government and the opposition should sit on the negotiating table to discuss the future of Syria," he stated.

On North Korea's nuclear missile programme, the Russian top diplomat said, "We are committed to all UNSC resolutions and we insist that North Korea and its neighbouring states fully respect them.'