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The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, offered today his country to Russia as a “gateway” to Latin America at the beginning of the meeting in the Kremlin with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
“The environment is very favorable. Argentina should be the gateway to Latin America,” said Fernández in the images offered live by the Russian public television.
The Argentine socialist leader criticized the excessive dependence of the Argentine economy on the United States and expressed his willingness to break this dynamic in favor of relations with other “very important” countries such as Russia.
Fernández, who said he was “deeply grateful” to Russia for supplying vaccines “at a time when they were scarce,” pointed out that his country is sending batches of Sputnik V to other Latin American countries such as Ecuador, Peru, or Paraguay.
“It is a great opportunity. It seems to me that this is the moment when we can advance in other fields. What I perceive is that we have a society predisposed to advance in the agreements,” he underlined.
The President of Argentina recalled that he had been vaccinated with the two doses of Sputnik V and waited for the booster dose for the arrival of new Russian vaccines, to which Putin replied: “Me too.”
For his part, Putin recalled that Argentina was “the first country in the western hemisphere” to register the Russian vaccine, to which he added the first contract for Sputnik V supply.
He stressed that, although the visit will be “short,” both leaders will have the opportunity to meet again in Beijing during the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.
According to the Kremlin, the leaders will discuss today “prospects for the development of the Russian-Argentine strategic partnership in the political, economic-commercial, cultural and humanitarian spheres.” The agenda of the talks will also include issues on international and regional issues.
“Argentina supports many Russian initiatives put forward in the Security Council and other UN bodies,” said Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s advisor.
