The strategic partnership between Russia and Germany determines to a large extent the trends of Europe's development and all of the continent benefits from their cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

Lavrov described the partnership as being based on "mutual trust, sincerity, respect to the interests of each other and orientation toward the future",in an article written on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Germany in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily newspaper.

Over the 50 years, Russia and Germany have searched for mutual compromise, rejected fundamentalism and incorporated bilateral relations in the context of the European and international policy, Lavrov said.

"Today, Russia and Germany are close as never before," Lavrov said, adding this closeness is based on mutual interest in political dialogue and practical cooperation that raises living standards of Russians and Germans.

During a brief working visit to Germany last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sealed a deal to build a gas pipeline underneath the Baltic Sea to boost Russia's gas supplies to Germany and other parts of Europe.

"The content and direction of our relations to a large extent determine the tendencies of the continent's development. All of Europe benefits from the Russian-German friendship and cooperation," Lavrov said.

"Regardless of the results of the German elections on Sept. 18, relations with Russia will remain no less important than in the past decades," Lavrov said.

Source: Xinhua