Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez Wednesday invited Russia to take part in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) Summit to be held in Uruguay's capital Montevideo in December this year.
Vazquez sent the invitation during a formal ceremony to welcome visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Uruguay currently holds the rotating presidency of Mercosur, a trade bloc which groups Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
"We are very interested in coming," Lavrov said later at a press conference.
During the visit, Lavrov and his Uruguayan counterpart Reinaldo Gargano issued a joint statement saying they wished for stronger diplomatic ties.
The statement also said "both governments are committed to raising the level of political consultations between Russia and Mercosur."
The two sides supported the idea of beginning negotiations on economic relations between the two countries, it said.
The statement also reiterated the two countries' commitment to state sovereignty, the equality and self-determination of the people, respect for human rights, peaceful settlement of controversies and an increasingly just international order based on international law.
They called on the United Nations to reform its systems to create greater efficiency and restated their standpoint that the UN should play a central role in fighting terrorism.
The two ministers also signed an agreement on intellectual property and academic cooperation.
They also opened Wednesday an exhibition on 150 years of Russia-Uruguay diplomatic relations.
Lavrov arrived in Uruguay from Peru, and will travel to Paraguay's capital Asuncion on Thursday, last stop of his Latin American tour.
Source: Xinhua
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