Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Colombia. File photoMEXICO CITY, Jul 19The outgoing administration of Colombia did not take practical steps to develop relations with Russia, therefore, with the coming to power in the country of President-elect Gustavo Petro, there are hopes for advancing the bilateral agenda, Russian Ambassador to Colombia Nikolai Tavdumadze said in an interview with RIA Novosti. «Since January 2021, when I started working in Colombia, I had conversations with the leadership of the country, including the President of Colombia (Ivan Duque — ed.). Intentions and wishes were expressed in words to maintain and develop friendly relations, but the concrete steps of the Colombian authorities in this direction, Really promoting the bilateral political agenda has not been done during this period. Moreover, we have certain difficulties as a diplomatic mission — with the registration of personnel and other issues, «said the head of the Russian diplomatic mission. Official relations between Russia and Colombia, established 87 years ago, according to Tavdumadze, were overwhelmingly constructive ny and friendly, but the last period has introduced a «certain negative» into them. So, in December 2020, the Colombian side demanded the expulsion of two employees of the Russian embassy — this is a unique case for the entire region of Latin America. The last high-level contact between Russia and Colombia took place in 2019, when former Foreign Minister Carlos Olmes Trujillo visited the Russian Federation. In addition to meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and participating in the events of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, he chaired the seventh meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.
The Foreign Ministry spoke about economic cooperation with Latin America»More than three years after the last meeting, we, unfortunately, did not see any activity on the part of the Colombian side in the work of this commission, despite repeated reminders, the meetings were not held even in the format of video conferences. We expect that with the advent of the new administration, this structure, which can serve as an important tool in promoting bilateral initiatives, will receive a new impetus,” the Russian ambassador said. political forces. The change of the right political vector in the government of Colombia, which has traditionally acted as the main ally and conductor of US policy in the region, is called the beginning of a new stage for the entire American continent by international experts. Colombia, and the inauguration is scheduled for August 7. There are certain hopes associated with the change of power and the arrival of the new elected president, Gustavo Petro, we hope that we will be able to advance the bilateral agenda and develop our relations in various areas, including political contacts, trade and economic ties and such important areas as education and culture,” Tavdumadze said.
