Russia, Mongolia confirm course towards strategic partnership - Russian top diplomat

ULAN NATOR, April 14. /TASS/. Moscow and Ulan Bator have confirmed their course towards strategic partnership, the two countries have similar or identical approaches to international issues, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday after talks with his Mongolian counterpart Lundeg Purevsuren. "Mongolia is our good, time-tested neighbor. We have confirmed the course towards closer strategic relations," he said. "Dynamic development of political dialogue proceeds at all levels." According to the Russian foreign minister, the two countries’ president who met in Ulan Bator in September 2014 agreed to work out a program for development of strategic partnership. "Today, we have implemented their instruction. The program has been signed. It is a comprehensive document and its successful implementation will raise our partnership to a higher level," he said. "Today, we confirmed similarity or identity of approaches to international factors," Lavrov went on to say. "We have agreed to coordinate efforts in international formats, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (CSO), and to strengthen dialogue on regional security." "An Asia-Europe summit will be held here in July. The choice of the venue demonstrates Mongolia’s high reputation on the international arena," the Russian top diplomat noted. "Our ties are supplemented by relations in the trilateral format Russia-Mongolia-China. At a summit in Ufa in July 2015, our heads of state approved a roadmap of trilateral cooperation and the working group is finishing work on the program for the establishment of the Russia-China-Mongolia economic corridor which is to be endorsed at a next meeting of the heads of state due to take place on the sidelines of the Tashkent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July." The results of today’s talks have demonstrated both countries’ commitment to further develop cooperation in all spheres, Lavrov underscored. Read more