MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russia after closer trade and political links with Mercosur

Russia is interested in closer political and economic relations with Mercosur said on Wednesday Russian visiting acting Foreign Affairs minister Sergei Lavrov in Uruguay one of the several countries included in the current South American tour.

The visit to Montevideo is in the framework of the 150 anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Uruguay, which also happens to hold the six month rotating Mercosur chair until next January. Lavrov met with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez who formally invited Russia to be present at the coming December Mercosur summit, and later signed several agreements with Foreign Affairs minister Reinaldo Gargano strengthening "political links and consultations between Mercosur and the Russian Federation". It was following the meeting that Mr Lavrov was informed that President Vladimir Putin had replaced Premier Mikhail Fradkov with a new premier, Viktor Zubkov. The joint statement also anticipated the beginning of formal negotiations in trade and investment affairs, plus the commitment of Russia and Mercosur to International law, to a more fair and democratic world and the strengthening of multilateral cooperation instruments. Following the signing of bilateral and Mercosur documents, Lavrov and Gargano inaugurated an exhibition with relevant documents from the archives of both countries going back a century and a half to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and Russia in December 1857. Lavrov arrived in Montevideo from Lima, Peru the first leg of his South American trip which now continues in Asunción, capital of Paraguay where he's scheduled to open a Russian embassy.