MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar discussed possible steps to intensify trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Lavrov told journalists following the negotiations.

"We have checked the contractual and legal base that is rapidly and efficiently developing and also discussed additional steps for drafting over a dozen agreements which will make it possible to more effectively develop cooperation in trade and economic, investment and anti-terrorist spheres," Mr. Lavrov said.

According to him, they also discussed in detail Sri Lanka's participation in regional and sub-regional organizations in the Asian and the Asia-Pacific regions.

"Apart from that, we discussed steps for developing contacts between regional structures in that part of the world," he notedd.

Mr. Lavrov said that Russia and Sri Lanka's positions were close or coincided on major international problems, first of all, the fight against terrorism and the role of the United Nations in settling regional conflicts.

"I am very much satisfied with these negotiations," he stressed, "they have confirmed the high level of our relations."

According to him, at the negotiations steps that would it possible to raise the relations between the countries to a higher level were discussed.

The Sri Lankan foreign minister noted the productivity of the negotiations.

"For me, it was a very interesting and useful conversation," he noted, "also from the point of view of expanding my knowledge of how specific problems are being solved in the world. The discussion was deep, analytical, and very useful."

In his words, they also discussed the possibility of expanding the Russian presence in the South Asian region.

"We proposed expanding Russia's presence in the region in the capacity of a partner of the Indian Ocean Rim Association," the minister said.

He also noted that an agreement was achieved on preparing a visit to Sri Lanka by a Russian delegation of experts in such spheres as tourism, industry and trade. This visit, according to him, would enable the Russian delegation to discuss possible cooperation in these spheres with partners.