As part of his official working visit to Chile, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov, met with the President of Chile, H.E. Michelle Bachelet and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz.
During the meeting, held at La Moneda Palace, President Bachelet discussed with Foreign Minister Lavrov about the state of bilateral relations, economic- trade cooperation between the two countries and the United Nations Security Council, taking into account Chile's current condition as a non-permanent member of that body. For his part, the Russian authority shared with President Bachelet his country's position faced with the situation in Ukraine. On the occasion, President Bachelet also conveyed to him an invitation for the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to visit Chile on a date to be agreed.
Later, Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz received his Russian counterpart at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with delegations of the two countries. In this working meeting, they reviewed the main issues on the bilateral agenda, including bilateral agreements in force , the upcoming Political Consultations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs -scheduled for the second half of this year- and the feasibility of initiating negotiations shortly to sign the Free Trade Agreement between Customs Union , which is an entity that is part of market of over 200 million people , including the Russian Federation itself , Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia.
"Bilateral economic relations are positive, but they could be much better. Trade amounts to US$ 717 million, there is Russian investment in Chie and Chilean businesspeople are interested in investing in Russia, so we believe that an agreement and the upcoming meeting of a bilateral economic commission in June in Moscow can give greater momentum to these economic relations," said Minister Muñoz.
They also discussed cooperation between the two countries in the UN Security Council, cooperation in the field of defense, the relations of the Russian Federation with Latin American countries, and mechanisms for global and regional integration such as APEC, MERCOSUR, UNASUR, CELAC and the Pacific Alliance. They also referred to the upcoming meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between Chile and the Russian Federation to be held in Moscow on June 26 and 27 this year, at which participants will review trade and other matters related to agriculture, fisheries, livestock production, energy, mining, education, and science and technology.