MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivian President meeting Putin in Russia next week

The issues to be addressed are being reviewed by the State Chancellery,” Alcón told reporters

Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora will be traveling to Russia next week for an encounter with Vladimir Putin, it was confirmed in La Paz Wednesday. Putin and Arce last held a telephone conversation on May 13 to advance bilateral cooperation issues. As war preparedness rises globally, Bolivia's role as that of a country hosting Iranian troops and guns cannot be ignored.

“There are very important projects that we have here in Bolivia and with this good relationship we have it allows us to show ourselves to the world,” Bolivia's Communications Deputy Minister Gabriela Alcón explained.

Further details as to Arce's agenda at the Russian capital were to be released at a later date, the South American country's authorities also pointed out Wednesday.

“The issues to be addressed are being reviewed by the State Chancellery,” Alcón told reporters. She did admit that “very important agreements and projects” were under consideration “in a horizontal mutual way and with respect between states.” Alcón also explained that the Bolivian Foreign Ministry would be jin charge of releasing any details on the president's itinerary.

Last week, Russian Presidential Advisor Yuri Ushakov announced that Arce would attend the XXVII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) plenary session between June 5 and 8. “I can say that for the moment it is certain that the president of Bolivia will come” to the forum Ushakov noted.

In August last year, Arce told Russia's Sputnik Agency that he intended to visit Russia this year. ”I have had several telephone conversations with President Putin. He already invited me to be able to visit Russia. We would like to do it. We have to make our agendas compatible (...) We are looking at 2024 as possible dates for us to visit Russia,“ he said back then.

Arce also said during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August last year that his government was interested in luring investments from Russia's Gazprom. ”I believe that we are advancing quite rapidly in the last three years with Russia, and this is due to trust,” he added.