Moscow [Russia], Dec. 28 : United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has thanked Russia for its assistance to the UN and praised Moscow's role in ensuring international peace and security.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephone conversation with the outgoing UN chief yesterday.
Lavrov thanked the UN Secretary-General for his messages of gratitude for cooperation to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Ban Ki-moon also offered condolences over the tragic death of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov and the Tu-154 plane crash near Sochi.
The foreign minister expressed general satisfaction with the level of cooperation with the UN Secretary-General, who will leave his post on January 1, next year, despite all the difficulties and contradictions in world politics during his term in office and the pressure put on him.
The two officials discussed current issues on the international agenda, including the situation in Syria and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa and the settlement of the internal Ukrainian crisis based on the Minsk Agreements approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2202.
Source: ANI