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369013
Wed, 05/27/2015 - 16:37
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Russia’s relations with Latin American countries reaching new quality level - FM Lavrov

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. The relations between Russia and Latin America are reaching a new quality level today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday. Russia’s relations with Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and other Latin American countries are a priority in its foreign policy, Lavrov said. "We welcome the confident growth of the prestige and influence of Latin America on the international scene," he added. "This is a very important trend, an important component of the objective process of developing a multi-polar, fairer and more democratic polycentric system of world order," the Russian foreign minister said. ‘Latin American relations and Russian relations with Latin America are reaching a qualitatively new level today," Lavrov said. "This was confirmed during the recent visits by Russian President Vladimir Putin to some states on the continent in July last year, his contacts with Latin American leaders in Moscow and on the sidelines of various international events, including the BRICS summit in Brazil where a meeting of BRICS members with leading Latin American regional associations took place," Lavrov said. "We welcome the efforts for promoting these integration processes, including Venezuela’s initiative role in this direction," the Russian foreign minister said. Russia has many partners in Latin America not only in the bilateral format but also from among regional associations, Lavrov said. Russia is developing contacts with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), including "for the purpose of preparations for the signing of a document on establishing a mechanism of regular consultations as part of political dialog and cooperation," the Russian foreign minister said. "We have a steady dialog with ALBA [the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America], contacts with UNASUR [the Union of South American Nations]. A process is under way for preparing a document on cooperation with MERCOSUR [the Latin American common market]," Lavrov said. Russia is also developing relations with MERCOSUR as part of the Eurasian Economic Union and this format is already being established, the Russian foreign minister said. "That is why, we’ll continue this policy, which is not of situational nature," Lavrov said. "We have good relations in Latin America not only with the countries that fully share our approaches to international matters but also with those, which have their nuances and were previously considered as pro-western," the Russian foreign minister said. Read more

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