Luxembourg - Russia would like to believe European Union assurances that the bloc is not trying to create a sphere of influence in the former USSR, but the EU has not yet been convincing enough, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. "We would like very much to believe" that the EU's planned Eastern Partnership with six former-Soviet states is not aimed at encircling Russia, Lavrov said after talks with EU diplomats in Luxembourg.

Nonetheless, "some comments I have heard do worry us," he said.

Seoul - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived Thursday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, for talks after the communist state's decision to withdraw from international negotiations to end its nuclear weapons programme. Lavrov was expected to try to persuade North Korea's leaders to return to the six-nation talks, in which Russia, North Korea, South Korea, China, the United States and Japan participate.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Lavrov's arrival without giving details of his visit. The Russian foreign minister was scheduled to visit South Korea Friday.

Moscow - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that an international conference on Afghanistan hosted by Moscow would help coordinate global efforts to stabilize the country.

"These (meetings) are directed at increasing the effectiveness of the international cooperation and in its action to support the Afghan leadership's struggle against the threat of terrorism and drug-trafficking," Lavrov was quoted by news agency Itar-tass as saying after talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart.

Kabul - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Kabul on Monday that his country was allowing cargo supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan through its territory to cooperate with the stabilization of the war-torn country.

Lavrov arrived in Kabul on Monday on a one-day trip to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta and other Afghan leaders including members of the parliament.

Moscow - Shots fired at the Polish and Georgian presidential motorcade near the South Ossetian border were staged and "yet another provocation" by Georgia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

Georgia said Russian forces had opened fire on the motorcade carrying Polish and Georgian Presidents Lech Kaczynski and Mikheil Saakashvili on Sunday from the airport in Tbilisi to a settlement near the Ossetian border.

New Delhi, Oct 20 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today.

Later, Lavrov is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Both are expected to review bilateral relations in diverse spheres and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.

A protocol on holding regular consultations between the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation during 2009-2010 is expected to be signed during the visit.