MOSCOW, April 21 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Thursday ended his Latin American tour, visiting Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, after which he will soon leave for the United States.
BrazilBrazil was the first stop of the Russian minister's trip. In the capital of this country, Lavrov held talks with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira, through whom he conveyed Vladimir Putin's invitation to President Lula da Silva to visit Russia.
The ministers discussed bilateral relations, in particular, Viyera stated that the trade turnover between Moscow and Brasilia had reached a historical record — $ 9.8 billion, and for Brazil Russia had become «the thirteenth largest trading partner.»
At the same time, the parties said about the need to increase these indicators, and also, according to Lavrov, to develop such areas as the peaceful use of the atom — there are good prospects there.
Ukraine has become another topic of negotiations in Brazil, which has become more active in declaring the need for Europe and the United States to start talking about reaching a settlement to the conflict.
Lavrov, following the talks, noted that Russia is interested in a quick resolution of the situation.
VenezuelaAfter Brasilia The Russian minister visited Caracas, where he held talks with the Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodriguez, and his Venezuelan counterpart, Ivan Gil. There was also a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to whom Lavrov conveyed Putin's invitation to visit Russia.
Moscow and Caracas, as stated by the Foreign Minister, agreed to increase the volume of cooperation in the field of new technologies, oil production, and the development of gas fields, and Russia intends to help the Venezuelan economy become less and less dependent on «the whims and geopolitical games of the United States,» in which it will come in handy experience of Moscow.
NicaraguaIn the capital of the country, the city of Managua, Lavrov was received by President Daniel Ortega, and also held talks with his colleague Denis Moncada. The main topics of the talks were the strengthening of partnership between the two countries, the development of relations in the trade, economic and investment spheres, as well as the holding of an intergovernmental commission on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in June.
Cuba Minister of Foreign Affairs, a meeting was held with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and leader of the Cuban Revolution Raul Castro.
Following the visit, Lavrov said that Moscow and Havana are negotiating a loan for an additional supply of wheat, and stressed that the parties have developed solutions that allow them to secure trade and investment from sanctions.
According to the minister, the parties are working on additional areas in which Moscow and Havana can develop trade and economic cooperation. He added that an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation will be held in the Cuban capital in a month, where they will discuss, in particular, the supply of fuel and food to the country, as well as expanding opportunities for tourism.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry, commenting on the visit, announced an excellent the state of relations between Moscow and Havana and highly appreciated the Russian humanitarian and medical assistance and cooperation on international platforms.
Trip to the US The minister will travel to New York next week, where he is expected to chair meetings of the UN Security Council at the April 24-25 events. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet announced the dates of Lavrov's visit, however, the minister, like most of the Russian delegation (except for the media), received a US visa.
As reported by Russia's permanent representative to the organization Vasily Nebenzya, Lavrov will meet with the Secretary General on Monday UN António Guterres, with whom he will discuss, among other things, a food deal.
Nebenzia also noted that Russia will not avoid meeting with the American side if the United States so desires.
Demonstration of presence in the regionDmitry Rozental, Acting Director of the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained the goals of Minister Lavrov's Latin American tour in a commentary.
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”The first goal is to demonstrate our presence in Latin America. Despite the opposition and difficult relations with the collective West, pressure from Washington, it was very important to demonstrate this,” the expert emphasized.
According to him, the choice of countries is also not accidental: Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua are traditional allies , with which Russia has built active trade, economic and political ties.
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"Brazil is also an important country for us. The new president, Lula da Silva, is quite actively returning Brazil to big diplomacy and puts forward important initiatives, including the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” Rosenthal noted.
He also pointed out the need to coordinate Moscow’s position with these countries and develop common approaches to various issues, as well as discuss new forms of interaction in various fields.