Ecuadorian President Interested In Meeting With Putin - Foreign Ministry

QUITO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2021) New Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso is interested in personal and direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and hopes to hold talks, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Mauricio Montalvo told Sputnik.

"During the talks, [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov made an invitation to visit Russia, I put forward a counter invitation for a return visit. I expressed to him President Lasso's interest in personal and direct contact with President Putin and our readiness for rapprochement with the best intentions, in the spirit of openness, for the development of mutually beneficial projects," Montalvo said.

According to the minister, Lasso is disposed toward a trip to Russia and a meeting with the Russian leader, if such a visit is agreed.

"Now we hope that the president will be able to hold talks with Putin.

We hope they will be able to be organized, and why not think about an official visit in the future," Montalvo added.

The diplomat noted the "excellent dialogue" with the Russian ambassador to Quito and expressed hope for a speedy accreditation of the new ambassador of Ecuador in Moscow.

"Ecuador is the third Latin American country for Russia after Brazil and Mexico. Imagine what our trade volume is. We are glad and to a certain extent proud that Ecuador is at this level of trade relations with Russia," Montalvo stressed.

Lasso took office on May 24. The politician assured his fellow citizens that he intended to closely integrate the country into the international trading system through the development of bilateral relations with key countries and regional integration.