Brazil Is One Of Russia's Priority Partners In Latin America

Russia regards Brazil as one of its priority partners in Latin America, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told RIA Novosti on Friday in connection with Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso's official visit to Moscow, scheduled for January 13-16. Russian and Brazilian interests and strategic guidelines have much in common. Russian Prime Minister's official visit to Brazil in December 2001 was of particular importance for bilateral relations, said Yakovenko. This was the first visit of the Russian Prime Minister to Latin America. During the visit the second meeting of the top level commission for cooperation was held which included the signing of several bilateral documents and a profound discussion of bilateral cooperation and vital problems of the modern world. "The visit confirmed the readiness of the two countries' authorities to transform Russian-Brazilian relations into strategic cooperation," the diplomat stressed. The full version of Alexander Yakovenko's interview with RIA Novosti is available at www.rian.ru.