After talks with his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed, on Tuesday, that ” Russia and Algeria They intend to sign an agreement that reflects the new quality of bilateral relations between the two countries,” according to the Algerian presidency.
“Throughout these years, we have been actively developing trade and economic cooperation,” Lavrov said shortly following the talks that took place at the headquarters of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which later expanded to include members of the two countries’ delegations.
Ramtane Lamamra and Sergey Lavrov “Algerian Press Agency”
Lavrov noted that in view of the “rapid development of friendly relations” between the two countries, and in order to maintain a high level of interaction, the two sides plan to conclude a “new strategic document between the two countries that reflects the new quality of our relations.”
Sergey Lavrov said that during his visit to Algeria he discussed the development of military-technical cooperation, and revealed that a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission of Russia and Algeria on economic cooperation will be held in Algeria in the next few months.
On the other hand, the head of Russian diplomacy revealed that he had informed the Algerian party of the latest developments in the situation in Ukraine, saying: “We highly appreciate the balanced and objective Algerian position regarding developments in Ukraine.”
Taboun and Lavrov
In response to statements attributed to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, regarding the possibility of handing over frozen Russian assets to the Ukrainian authorities, Lavrov said: “Our position is well-known. The assets are in Afghanistan, but these funds were not used to rebuild Afghanistan destroyed as a result of the actions of NATO during the past twenty years, but rather these funds were directed to achieve other goals.
Putin invites Tebboune to visit Russia
On the other hand, Lavrov said that President Putin hopes to hold a personal meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and invite him to visit Russia.
On Tuesday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his accompanying delegation at the Presidency of the Republic.
The Algerian president had spoken by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last month, and “the two presidents agreed on the importance of exchanging high-level visits between officials of the two countries, and the upcoming meeting of the joint committee for economic cooperation”, which was postponed due to the Corona pandemic, according to the Algerian presidency.
Algeria and Moscow have historical relations, both at the economic level, with exchanges amounting to 4.5 billion dollars, as Lavrov announced on his last visit to Algeria before President Tebboune came to power in December 2019.
Algeria is also coordinating with Russia within the framework of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, as well as in the meetings of the oil-exporting countries “OPEC +”.
