BANGKOK, July 31. /TASS/. Moscow expects that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah will attend this year’s Eastern Economic Forum in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"We value our relations, Mr. Minister. The Russian president and your prime minister held a very good meeting last year. We expect Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to come to Vladivostok in September for the Eastern Economic Forum," Lavrov said at talks with Abdullah.

"We will be very glad to receive him," Lavrov said, also inviting his Malaysian counterpart to attend the event.

In early July, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow expected that the forum in Vladivostok would be attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, as well as Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe.

The fifth Eastern Economic Forum is due to be held on September 4-6.