Russia to Regain Status in Latin America, Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that his country is ready to regain its status in Latin America.

On the eve of his Cuba visit scheduled to start on Wednesday, Putin said,"the time has come not only to rediscover our interest but also to regain our positions in this region of the world (Latin America), as those moves meet Russia's economic and national interests."

The Interfax quoted Putin as saying on Tuesday that many Latin American states support Russia's active presence in the region and hope to make joint efforts with Russia in achieving common goals on the world arena.

The Russian president said in an interview with Cuban and Russian media that Cuba is Russia's "traditional, old and reliable partner".

Putin said regarding the cooling of Russian-Cuban relations in recent 10 years a wrong thing that had resulted in great damages to the fields of politics, economy and ideology.

However, Russia has lately attached greater and greater importance to its relations with the Latin American states, Putin said.

"In this sense, Cuba's role is very significant to us," as the country always holds independent stand and supports the democratic principles in international relations, he added

Putin emphasized the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, saying Russia is particularly interested in the reconstruction of the enterprises built in Cuba with the involvement of the former Soviet.

The trade volume between Russia and Cuba reached nearly 1 billion US dollars in 1999, and 700 million dollars in the first 10 months this year, according to the president. "It is a good figure, which reveals the fact that the both sides positively develop economic contacts," he said.

Putin also reaffirmed Russia's "consistent and principled" opposition to the embargo against Cuba.

Rebuking the embargo "unjustified from any viewpoint", Putin called on an earliest lift of unilateral sanctions against Cuba.

Putin will pay a four-day official visit to Cuba Wednesday, the first visit to Cuba of a Russian top leader since the collapse of the former Soviet in early 1990s.






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