Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday from Brazil, where he began his Latin American tour that also includes Nicaragua and Cuba.
Lavrov was received at the Simón Bolívar international airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira state, by Sergey Mélik-Bagdasarov, Russian ambassador in Caracas; Franklin Ramírez, Venezuelan vice minister for Europe; and other authorities.
As part of his agenda, the Russian diplomat will hold meetings with Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Foreign Minister Yván Gil, and will be received by President Nicolás Maduro at the Miraflores Palace, seat of government.
Yesterday the Venezuelan president announced that with Lavrov they will review all cooperation issues between the two countries, which exceed 300 agreements on trade, energy, agriculture, food, technical-military, and others.
The ruler stated that he has a good, beautiful and deep friendship with the head of Russian diplomacy and assured that the conversation with him will be quite interesting.
Maduro described Lavrov as “a seasoned man”, one of the most influential in international politics and with more than a decade at the helm of the Moscow Foreign Ministry.
On December 13, the director of the Latin American Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Shchetinin, arrived in Caracas on an official visit, when they reviewed the bilateral agenda on political aspects related to collaboration in multilateral forums and the economic cooperation. On the occasion, both countries held the 16th High-Level Intergovernmental Commission and signed new agreements.
Shchetinin underlined Russia’s position of holding an open and frank dialogue, noting that they promote relations of mutual respect based on international law.
