Olivia Kroth: Russia and Argentina will celebrate the 130th year of diplomatic relations in 2015

Russia and Argentina will celebrate the 130th year of diplomatic relations in 2015

by Olivia Kroth

Russia and Argentina have been cultivating their relations for 100 years and are intensifying them now. Due to the unfriendly behaviour of EU and NATO states towards the Russian Federation, the Russian Government is turning towards Latin America. In July this year, President Vladimir Putin and his team visited the Caribbean region and South America. Bilateral talks between Russian and Argentine leaders went very well, a number of lucrative deals were signed. So western sanctions will not hurt Russia as much as hoped for and expected in the West.

According to DIE STIMME RUSSLANDS (09.09.2014), Russia’s Rosatom and Argentina’s Corporacion America will start building a new nuclear power plant on Argentine territory. They also want to cooperate in nuclear medicine and nuclear technology. This is a first step to fulfill the plans made by Vladimir Putin and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, when the Russian President visited Buenos Aires. Kremlin.ru informed on July 12: «The President of Russia has arrived in Buenos Aires with an official visit at the invitation of the President of the Argentine Republic Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The talks are to cover a broad range of issues of Russian-Argentinian cooperation and a number of international matters. Among the main topics on the agenda is the expansion of trade and economic cooperation and prospects for implementing joint energy projects. After the talks, the parties are to sign a number of bilateral documents.»

Bilateral agreement signing ceremony: Chief Executive officer of Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, and Argentinian Minister of Federal Planning, Julio de Vido, sign an agreement on cooperation in the peaceful energy sector

Bilateral treaties in the area of agriculture were also part of the programme. Shortly afterwards, Argentina had the opportunity of augmenting its beef exports to Russia, after the Russian food import embargo against EU countries due to western sanctions. «Latin America is among the winners of this embargo. Now Russia buys Argentine agrarian products» (Neue Zuercher Zeitung, 14.08.2014).

Before the visit, Vladimir Putin said in an interview with ITAR TASS and PRENSA LATINA:  «Russia and Argentina are bound together by more than a century-long history of close ties and strong mutual attraction. They say that there is some Russian blood in every sixth Argentinian. Many people from our country found their second home in Argentina. (…) I appreciate our constructive and confidential dialogue with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. I view my visit to Buenos Aires as an opportunity to discuss the full range of pressing issues of the bilateral and international agenda, as well as to continue a fruitful exchange of views on ways to strengthen relations in various fields and to outline joint and mutually beneficial cooperation projects.»

After the successful talks in Buenos Aires, President Putin gave the following press statement:

«We intend to strengthen cooperation in other high technology areas as well, including space exploration. We expect a positive decision on the deployment in Argentina of ground-based equipment for the Russian GLONASS global positioning system. We attach special importance to our cooperation in military technology. (…) There is one more important point I would like to highlight. We will continue developing cooperation in the information sphere. This is the purpose of the Agreement on Cooperation in Mass Communication, which in one way or another has to do with the activities of our esteemed colleagues present here today. The agreement will help leading news agencies in Russia and Argentina to expand their contacts and to exchange information on a regular basis. We are grateful to Argentina for the opportunity it has provided to the Russian broadcasting company Russia Today (RT). For the first time the audience of a Latin American country will be able to watch its Spanish programming round the clock on a dedicated channel.»

 Finally, Vladimir Putin also mentioned the sphere of culture and thanked the Argentine Government for their hospitality: «We suggest holding a mutual Year of Culture in our two countries next year, when we will be marking 130 years of diplomatic ties between Russia and Argentina. (…) I would like to note that Argentina is a very comfortable partner for us. Naturally, Argentina often has its own opinion on key international issues, but this is its own sovereign opinion – something you do not see very often in the world today and we value it highly. I would like to thank Madam President one more time for the positive working and friendly atmosphere that was created during our meeting today.»

The first Russian Ambassador to Argentina wrote in 1885: «Our countries can extend their hands to each other and become allies.” In this sense the Russian Federation and Republic of Argentina have succeeded in bilding a stable bridge between their continents.

Olivia Kroth: The journalist and author of four books lives in Moscow.

Her blog:

https://olivia2010kroth.wordpress.com

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