AFP/Buenos Aires
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner will visit Russia’s Vladimir Putin tomorrow and Thursday to follow up on nuclear and trade deals the countries signed last year and cultivate a budding relationship.
Putin extended the invitation during a stop last July in Buenos Aires, where Russian and Argentine officials signed a raft of deals on trade, military co-operation, communications and energy projects.
Kirchner’s visit comes as the countries mark 130 years of diplomatic relations. But the relationship has gained new impetus in recent years as Kirchner and Putin have found common cause in their often antagonistic relations with the US and Europe.
Putin is keen to bolster Russia’s support in Latin America at a time when the Ukraine crisis has deeply damaged Moscow’s relations with the West.
And Kirchner has found in Putin a welcome ally for Argentina’s battle against US hedge funds thwarting its effort to restructure its defaulted debt.
When he visited her in July, he also voiced support for Argentina’s long-standing bid for sovereignty over the Falklands, calling for “direct
negotiations” with Britain over the bitterly disputed islands.
That visit wrapped up with both leaders calling for a more “multi-polar” world less dominated by the US and the European Union.
This visit is “fundamentally about trade,” Argentine cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez told journalists.
“Our job is to consolidate this relationship and incentivise new investment. Our country is a place that attracts investors,” he said.
Russia has notably voiced interest in Argentina’s energy sector, particularly the Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field, potentially one of the largest finds in history.
