MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Russia and Venezuela are interested in enhancing bilateral cooperation in conditions of the West's sanctions policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Our shared opinion is that against the backdrop of the massive sanctions campaign unleashed by the West, our bilateral cooperation should help increase the sustainability of the national economies, implement import-substitution programs and strengthen the technological sovereignty of our countries," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday following talks with Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto.
"Venezuela is our reliable friend in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on the world stage as a whole," Lavrov said.
"We have agreed on practical measures to expand trade and investment cooperation, widen contacts between business circles bearing in mind today's realities and the current and long-term tasks facing our countries," he said.
"We have worked out a large number of projects in gas production and the development of gas deposits, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals, communications, space, and new technologies," Lavrov said.
"We have agreed to speed up the pace and increase the volume of interaction in all of these areas," he said.