Russian, Nicaraguan Foreign Ministers discuss bilateral cooperation prospects

Sergei Lavrov and Norman Caldera, respective Foreign Ministers of Russia and Nicaragua, met in Moscow to discuss prospects of their countries' cooperation. Mr. Lavron said this at a news conference following talks with his Nicaraguan counterpart.

"After a certain decline our relations are again developing dynamically, which is a good thing. Bilateral trade and business contacts have trended upwards, which is also true of political dialogue," said Mr. Lavrov.

Russia and Nicaragua are set to bring their relations to a higher level, including in addressing international problems on which their positions are either close of coincide, according to Mr. Lavrov.

"We noted the intensification of bilateral relations and outlined specific ways to boost commodity turnover and economic cooperation, including in the fishery and energy industry," said Mr Lavrov.

"Today we discussed a possibility of signing a relevant agreement," said Mr. Lavrov.

The Russian minister said they had agreed to continue talks on the matter.

Today, the two foreign ministers exchanged the instruments of ratification of the Treaty on the Fundamentals of Bilateral Relations and signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Russian and Nicaraguan diplomatic academies.

Mr. Caldera, for his part, said a solution to the problem of Nicaragua's debt to Russia would hopefully be found as early as on Monday.

Mr. Caldera said they had discussed the problem in detail with Mr. Lavrov. However, a meeting between the Nicaraguan Central Bank chief and the Russian finance minister, due tonight, will bring a final solution to the problem, according to the minister.

In 1996, the two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the settlement of Nicaragua's debt to Russia, which exceeded $3.4 billion. Russia granted Nicaragua a 90-per cent discount and allowed to pay the remaining $344.4 million in portions within 15 years.