Foreign Minister Lavrov: Good afternoon, esteemed colleagues.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome the Minister of Foreign Affairs of friendly Venezuela, Mr. Nicolas Maduro Moros, to Moscow.
The present meeting is another testimony to the dynamic growth of cooperation between our countries. Beyond doubt, the talks of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela on September 25-26 were a major landmark in the history of bilateral interaction. These talks imparted serious impetus to the entire range of our relations.
Today we had a concrete conversation on a wide spectrum of issues. We reaffirmed the consonance of the two countries" positions on key international problems and reiterated the mutual desire to maximally use the realities of the multipolar world in order to develop relations between states on the basis of international law. It is obvious that Latin America is objectively becoming a center of economic growth and political influence. We believe that this contributes to the stability of an emerging multipolar system.
Both Russia and Venezuela are committed to strengthening the central role of the UN and enhancing its effectiveness, primarily in the maintenance of international peace and security and in matters concerning the promotion of strategic stability. Our countries are convinced of the necessity to reinforce strategic stability on the basis of a search for collective answers to global threats and challenges. We also note the increasing tendency for the problems of appropriate regions to be tackled, first and foremost, by efforts of the countries of the relevant area of the globe themselves. We are convinced that attempts to cling to the unipolar model and to relapses of power politics are unacceptable and may lead to tragic consequences. A vivid example is the recent attack of the Georgian regime on South Ossetia and everything that happened after this. We highly appreciate Venezuela"s support of the actions of Russia to resolve this crisis situation.
We reaffirmed the reciprocal desire to enhance Russian ties with the various integration associations of Latin America and the Caribbean Basin. We note the active, initiative role of Venezuela in the promotion of the integration processes in that region.
Naturally we gave particular attention to bilateral relations, primarily in the trade and economic field. We are pleased that Russian companies actively participate jointly with Venezuelan partners in the realization of extensive projects in fuel-and-energy and mining industries. We have an understanding of the importance of widely using the new possibilities opening up in high technologies, machine-building, petrochemicals, oil-and-gas and transport infrastructure, air service between Russia and Venezuela and in financial and investment cooperation. We expect an upcoming regular meeting on October 27-29 of the intergovernmental high-level commission to facilitate increasing cooperation and implementing major joint initiatives.
We also note the successful development of contacts under the auspices of our defense ministries. Close contacts are being maintained between the ministries of foreign affairs of Russia and Venezuela. Our diplomatic service actively cooperates with the Venezuelan colleagues at the UN, particularly during the current 63rd General Assembly session, where on most issues we coordinate our positions.
I am very pleased with the outcomes of the talks and am convinced that they will help to prepare well the upcoming contacts at different levels.
Question: Could you tell us in greater detail about the importance of cooperation between the two countries in the energy and military-technical fields? And could you say a few words about the bilateral bank of which Moros spoke? What makes this bank important for joint projects?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: I will answer very briefly. The importance of our cooperation in the oil-and-gas, banking and military-technical fields is determined, first and foremost, by the reciprocal interests of Russia and Venezuela. Where the banking and financial spheres are concerned, I think the more models of cooperation mechanisms will be created, the steadier the financial position of the countries which participate in such cooperation will be. And in the epoch of the current financial crisis this, undoubtedly, will be a contribution both to overcoming the present phenomena in the area of world finances and to establishing more stable rules in world financial markets. Eventually, we are convinced that there will need to be a reform of the instruments that now govern world finances and the world economy as a whole.
As to our ties in the oil and gas sector, Russia and Venezuela are among the largest hydrocarbon producers. There is mutual keenness on developing new technology and utilizing our resources more effectively. Here the addition of efforts is very promising especially if we take into account the possibilities of entry into third country markets. This meets the development interests of both states and that will be the subject of the concrete talks to be held in the framework of the upcoming meeting of the high-level commission. Within this commission the progress achieved in contacts between the oil and gas companies of Russia and Venezuela will be reviewed. This is a commercial project, but at the same time, as Mr. Moros said, this project will be useful for countries which do not have energy carriers; it will also be useful to develop our partnership in markets of third states, across the technological chain at that. Our military-technical cooperation is maintained transparently, fully in keeping with all the norms accepted in the world community, in keeping with the commitments which Russia and Venezuela have assumed internationally. It is aimed at solving the only task of strengthening the defense capability of Venezuela and satisfying its natural, lawful requirements in this field.
Question: A question for Minister Moros. I would like to learn whether the possibility of Russian President Medvedev"s visit to Venezuela was discussed in the talks? And a question for Minister Lavrov: Could you say a few words about the role which Latin America plays in Russian diplomacy?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: I presume that it would have been more correct to address the first question to me. We did discuss the prospects of the next summit meeting. President Medvedev, like Prime Minister Putin, has an invitation to visit Venezuela. And today we discussed how to arrange a mutually acceptable date.
Regarding the second question, you know we do not regard Latin America as an object of Russian diplomacy, but as our partner in the multipolar world, a partner in its own right, which understands better than others the problems of its region, which sees better than others the tasks requiring solution. The countries of the region strive increasingly to tackle these tasks on their own both in cooperation with all other countries on an equal basis and on a basis of respect for the approaches of the countries of Latin and South America themselves in the first place. That attitude is fully consistent with the approaches of the Russian Federation. We have an absolutely identical vision of the world and a coincidence of views on how to develop cooperation in the contemporary multipolar world on the basis of international law and the democratization of international relations. The rule of law within states is important, which we often hear from our western colleagues, but it is no less important, and perhaps in the present-day conditions even more important, to ensure the international rule of law in interstate relations. Here we have a full coincidence of positions both with Venezuela and with the countries of Latin America as a whole.
October 7, 2008
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