Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Istanbul on a visit on Wednesday for talks with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

Lavrov will also take part in the first session of the Russian-Turkish strategic planning group. The group was founded in May 2010 after the talks between Russian and Turkish Presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Tayyip Erdogan.

This structure operates within the High Level Cooperation Council and aims at strengthening partnership in political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields.

“The participants in the meeting will discuss the activity of the new structure and exchange views on Russian-Turkish interaction on bilateral and international issues, including European security, the situation in the Middle East, the Balkans, Transcaucasia and other regions,” the Foreign Ministry reported.

The parties will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme. EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Catherine Ashton is expected to meet with secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Syeed Jalili in Istanbul on January 21-22.

The meeting will also involve political directors of the Sextet (five members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany). Russia will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.