MOSCOW

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu discussed military cooperation Tuesday with his counterpart from Burkina Faso, Col. Kassoum Coulibaly, at a meeting in Moscow.

"Thank you for your prompt arrival in Russia to form an interdepartmental delegation and for your readiness to work on increasing our cooperation in the defense sector and in the economy," Shoygu said as he opened the meeting and noted relations between Russia and Burkina Faso are "based solely on the principles of mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests, and in recent years they have gained positive momentum."

Coulibaly said the talks were a "practical phase" of defense cooperation.

Shoygu also held a separate meeting earlier with his Nicaraguan counterpart, Julio Cesar Aviles Castillo, where the two officials spoke about projects in the military and military-technical domain, according to the Russian Defense Ministry press service.