Russia-Mexico ties are warm… even without election meddling – Lavrov jokes in RT interview
Russia enjoys warm relations with Mexico including trade and high-tech investments, and even cooperation in the UN and G20. And all of this is without Moscow meddling in Mexican elections, Russia’s foreign minister joked.
Speaking to RT Espanol’s Aliana Nieves on Monday, Sergey Lavrov said recent developments in Latin America, where some leftist governments were forced out or were defeated by right-wing parties, did not affect the region’s relations with Russia. Some countries have elections approaching, but Moscow again does not see much of a change there, he said.
On the topic of ties with Mexico, which is set to hold general elections in 2018, Russia’s top diplomat adopted a less serious tone.
“Now, as far as Mexico is concerned, again, we don’t see any ‘Russian factor’ in the Mexican elections. Nobody accuses us of meddling in this country,” he said sarcastically, referring to the array of allegations that Russia played a role in the 2016 US elections, the 2017 German elections and a number of other votes.
Taking a more serious line, he added: “We have very good plans for developing our cooperation with Mexico, including trade, investments, civil aviation and a number of other high-tech industries.”
Meanwhile, Moscow has “never seen any single fact from the governments which accuse us of meddling in their internal affairs,” Lavrov stressed.
Positive changes are underway in Venezuela, where the government and opposition have engaged in talks, the minister added. “If nobody intervenes in this process, I think they can work out an agreement… Some people start whispering things into the ears of the opposition, asking them, encouraging them to take a tougher stance [against the government],” according to the Russian diplomat.
Russia formally established diplomatic relations with Mexico back in 1890. In August 1924, Mexico became the first country in the Americas to establish relations with the Soviet Union.
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