Mongolian Foreign Minister: Russian-Mongolia Cooperation Agreement Deepens Countries' Relations

The Agreement on friendly relations and cooperation between Mongolia and the Russian Federation signed on January 20, 1993, has deepened the relations between the countries and become a historical document that updated the legal basis of the bilateral cooperation, said Mongolian Foreign Minister Luvsangiin Erdenechuluun on the occasion of the agreement's 10th anniversary.

"The agreement created favorable conditions for stable development of the countries' relations in all spheres," the minister pointed out.

On November 5, 1921, the people's government of Mongolia signed an agreement with the Soviet State government on establishing friendly relations, Erdenechuluun recalled. Thus, Russia was the first of the world's countries to recognize Mongolia's independence and sovereignty.

Other agreements, protocols and declarations of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance were signed by the countries in 1936, 1946, 1966 and 1991. The democratic reforms that started in Mongolia and Russia in the 1990s required that traditional cooperation between the countries be reviewed. As a result, in 1993 the countries signed a new Agreement on friendly relations and cooperation that became a turning point in bilateral relations, the minister emphasized.

Over the past ten years, parallel to expanding cooperation, its legal basis has been updated as well: the countries have signed over 100 agreements, protocols and other documents regulating all aspects of bilateral relations.

"The Ulan-Bator declaration signed in November 2000 during Russian President Vladimir Putin's official visit to Mongolia created even more favorable conditions for political and economic partnership of the two countries and strengthened the guidelines of bilateral relations in the 21st century," Erdenechuluun pointed out.