ISTANBUL

Turkmenistan’s president hosted the chairman of Russia’s State Duma for talks on bilateral relations and inter-parliamentary cooperation in the capital Ashgabat.

Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Vyacheslav Volodin, head of Russia’s lower house of parliament, reaffirmed a “mutual desire for further development of Turkmen-Russian cooperation,” Turkmenistan’s state news agency TDH reported on Monday evening.

Discussions and agreements focused on priority areas of cooperation, including trade, energy, industry, and transport, as well as education, science, health care, and culture, the report said.

A joint business forum was also organized in Ashgabat, it added.

Berdimuhamedov and Volodin hailed the “traditionally friendly and strategic” ties between Turkmenistan and Russia, vowing to further enhance their “multifaceted interstate cooperation.”

They also discussed the need for greater inter-parliamentary cooperation, terming it an important tool in bilateral relations that provides “legislative support for the agreements reached and decisions taken at the highest level.”​​​​​​​