BRUSSELS (EEAS press service) — The E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, will travel to Russia on February 4-6. During his visit, he plans to discuss a range of topics with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, including bilateral relations, the fight against the pandemic, the Iranian nuclear deal, the conflict in Ukraine, and the arrest of Russian blogger Alexey Navalny.

It will be the first visit to Russia by an E.U. High Representative/Vice-President since 2017.

During his visit, Josep Borrell will have meetings with representatives of Russian civil society organisations and members of the academic community in Moscow.

Ahead of the visit, Josep Borrell said:

The relationship with Russia is one of the EU’s most complex. Recent developments only serve to further underline the need for me to visit Moscow. But beyond the issues of contention there are also areas in which the EU and Russia do cooperate, or need to cooperate more, that require our urgent attention.

Borell and Lavrov will discuss, among an entire spectrum of problems, prospects for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) to settle the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, further steps to stabilize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.