Colombia’s Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo paid a visit to Moscow that sought to “reactivate” ties with Russia and promote peace in Ukraine.
The visit came a year before the 90th anniversary of the establishment of ties between Colombia and Russia’s predecessor, the Soviet Union.
According to Colombia’s ambassador to Moscow, Hector Arenas, Murillo and his Russian counterpart Serguei Lavrov took the opportunity to “jointly revise… the entire bilateral and multilateral agenda” of their governments.
At the meeting, Murillo offered to help Russia and Ukraine to seek a negotiated end to the armed conflict that began with Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022.
We brought a message of peace and invited them to resolve this in political and diplomatic dialogues, and we assure them that Colombia is willing to contribute to the extent requested.
Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo
“We also touched on trade issues, there are some exchange opportunities that are important,” said Murillo on social media platform X.
Ahead of the meeting, the Russian foreign minister said that his government hoped “to restart the Intergovernmental Bilateral Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation next year” in order to “intensify our trade, economic and commercial ties.”
Additionally, the Colombian emissaries sought Russian support for Bogota’s efforts to boost international efforts to combat a global climate crisis that has been blamed for excessive rains and droughts in the Andean country.
According to both Colombia’s ambassador and Lavrov, the visit also sought to step up cultural and academic exchange programs through universities from both countries.