Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to start a new tour in Latin America next week, including scheduled visits to Cuba and Venezuela before heading to Brazil for a G20 foreign minister meeting, the Russian state-run TASS news agency announced on Wednesday.
Lavrov is returning to Latin America less than a year after his five-day tour in 2023 that included stops in Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
💬 #Zakharova:
🎙 On February 16, FM Sergey #Lavrov will attend the 'Forum of supporters against modern neocolonial practices'.
🇺 February 19 – visit to Cuba
🇻 February 20 – visit to Venezuela🇷 February 21-22 – #G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro. pic.twitter.com/4uQaYlxWQi
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 14, 2024
The Russian government informed on Wednesday that Lavrov’s tour will begin with a visit to Cuba on February 19, where he will hold encounters with the communist Castro regime’s figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of Cuba, poses during a state visit to Mexico at Palacio Nacional on October 17, 2019, in Mexico City, Mexico (Hector Vivas/Getty Images).
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Lavrov is expected to discuss “topical issues of bilateral collaboration, global, and regional agenda” topics with Castro regime officials.
“The talks will focus on key aspects of further strengthening the Russian-Cuban strategic partnership on the basis of deepening political dialogue and building up ties in trade and economic, financial and investment, scientific and technical, cultural and humanitarian and other areas,” Zakharova said.
The Russian spokeswoman asserted that both sides will also discuss “the subject of cooperation to prevent the undermining of universally recognized international law principles and norms, the UN Charter, countering the use of neocolonial practices and illegitimate unilateral restrictive measures in state relations.”
Lavrov will continue his tour with a stop in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 20, where he is slated to meet socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, and Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
According to Zakharova, the Russian foreign minister and the Venezuelan socialist regime officials will discuss the current state of and the prospects for a bilateral strategic partnership.
“They will exchange views on key international and regional issues, cooperation within the United Nations and on other multilateral platforms,” she stated.
Maduro, who last visited Russia in 2019, had planned to visit the country again in December but postponed the visit until 2024. The dictator has yet to announce dates for that expected trip.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) meets with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, on Feb. 7, 2020 (Marcos Salgado/Xinhua/Sa Erjiaduo via Getty Images).
Following his visits to Cuba and Venezuela, Lavrov will arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in the first ministerial meeting of the G20’s Sherpa Track between February 22-23.
Lavrov stated that Moscow is determined to participate in the G20 to prevent what he described as attempts to “Ukrainize” the group.
Lavrov told the Russian State Duma on Wednesday:
We are actively working within the G20, which remains an important mechanism for coordinating positions in the economy and finance. Together with the Global South, we continue countering attempts by the Western minority to turn the G20 into an instrument to pursue its own narrow objectives, including the Ukrainianisation of its agenda.
Brazil assumed the rotating one-year presidency of the G20 group in December. Next week’s meeting of foreign ministers is part of the broader list of encounters and meetings ahead of November’s G20 summit.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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