Austrian FM to visit Russia, meet with Lavrov

MOSCOW, march 7 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl will arrive in Moscow on march 11 to meet with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

The two ministers will discuss bilateral cooperation and exchange views on key international issues, Zakharova told a weekly news briefing.

Lavrov will then visit Vienna and attend a ministerial meeting of the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs on march 14, Zakharova announced.

In November, Kneissl summoned the Russian representative in Austria and canceled an upcoming trip to Moscow after Vienna accused a retired Austrian colonel of spying for Russia since the 1990s, which Russia denied.

Despite the incident, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said repeatedly that his country is ready for dialogue and cooperation with Russia.