Moscow, Montevideo to sign agreement on cooperation against drugs

During an upcoming visit to Russia on June 29 - July 2, Uruguay's Vice President Luis Hierro Lopez will join the Russian side to sign a Russian-Uruguayan Agreement on Cooperation in the drive to combat drug-trafficking, reported Alexander Yakovenko, an official spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry.

Lopez will meet with the chairman of both houses of the Federal Assembly /parliament/, Sergei Mironov and Gennady Seleznyov, Vice Premier Alexei Gordeyev, and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. He and the Russian side will also exchange notes about prolongation of the Air Traffic Agreement.

According to Yakovenko, "proximity or similarity of Russia and Uruguay's positions on key global and regional problems," such as the drive to combat terrorism and drug-trafficking, settlement of conflicts in "hot spots," and the need to reorganize the system of international economic relations, help streamline an intensive political dialogue between the two countries. "Montevideo actively supports Russia's effort to establish direct links with MERCOSUR, the influential regional integration group in Latin America," said the diplomat.

Yakovenko thinks trade and economic relations between two countries are "picking up speed." For the past five years, since the moment Russia lifted sanitary restrictions it had imposed on Uruguayan meat products, it has been purchasing large quantities of Uruguayan beef. Apparently, Russian companies are interested in the Uruguayan market. "Moscow hopes it will be able to realize a number of joint projects in Uruguay," concluded the diplomat.