Croatia's Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlic-Radman, will pay a visit to Russia in mid-January, the Vecernji List daily reported on Wednesday.

Grlic-Radman’s host, Minister Sergey Lavrov, visited Zagreb a year ago, and this was the first visit by a Russian foreign minister to Croatia in the past 16 years. In addition to political topics on the agenda, economic matters will also be discussed with Croatian company executives doing business in Russia.

Grlic-Radman’s visit is taking place against a backdrop of growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as between Moscow and the European Union. Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had visited Ukraine on 8-9 December.

“Plenkovic’s visit to Kiev has not triggered any reactions in Moscow,” Vecernji opined. “Croatia advocates the position on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and this is also the stance kept by the European Union,” the daily said.