Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have discussed the state of Russian-Argentinian relations in the trade, economic and humanitarian areas, as well as our cooperation on the international stage, including the UN, the G20 and other formats.

We agreed to contribute to the further development of all areas of our cooperation. We agreed the deadlines for the next sessions of the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Intergovernmental Commission for Military and Technical Interaction, as well as reciprocal steps to accelerate the preparation of a range of important intergovernmental documents, which are planned to reinforce the contractual, legal framework of our bilateral cooperation, including on the issues of the peaceful use of atomic energy. We discussed further steps to complete the adoption of documents regarding cooperation in the legal area.

We are following the processes in Latin America closely. We are interested in the development of close and friendly ties not only with individual countries of this continent, but also with integration associations – SELAC and MERCOSUR, of which our Argentinian partners are members.

We are satisfied with the state of affairs in the interaction of our representatives in the UNSC, the Human Rights Council and the G20. Russia and Argentina share a common approach to the global situation. We are united in believing that the newly developing architecture of international relations must be polycentric and based on the objectively strengthening tenets of economic growth and political influence. We are interested in Latin America becoming one of these centres.

When reviewing international issues, we underlined the unchangeable Russian position regarding the need for an urgent renewal of direct negotiations between the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to find a peaceful and final settlement of the dispute about sovereignty over the Maldives. They are the respective decisions of the UN General Assembly and we want them to be implemented.

We discussed the issues on the UNSC agenda – the Syrian problem, the situation in Iran, Afghanistan, Libya and in the Middle East and North Africa in general. Russia and Argentina share the opinion that we need to assist in the resolution of problems of the African continent most effectively. Our Argentinian colleagues proposed and we agreed to consider whether we can jointly demonstrate some initiatives, which will contribute to the resolution of social and economic problems of African countries. I think that it is a valuable idea and we will work on it substantially.

We reviewed the situation in Ukraine and around it. Russia appreciates the independent position of Argentina with regard to the events in this country. This is an objective and unprejudiced position, which is shared by the overwhelming majority of Latin American countries and was demonstrated during the March debates in the UNGA.

We devote special attention to the frequent messages coming from Ukraine regarding violations of human rights, deprivation of the legal interests of national minorities, and xenophobic and neo-Nazi moods. We share the opinion that taking into consideration the elections of the 25 May, this situation should be used to stop the use of the army, and any other violence immediately, and to start a Ukraine-wide dialogue with the participation of all the political forces and all the regions for the purpose of a constitutional reform, which should make the situation stable and create a framework, which is acceptable for all the Ukrainians.

The signature on the Joint Statement of not initiating the placement of arms in outer space has become a good example of the closeness of our positions with regard to international affairs. This Russian initiative is gaining more and more supporters. We expect that such a resolution will be adopted in a multilateral format at the UNGA session in 2014.

We are satisfied with the level of our cooperation. I thank my colleague Mr. Héctor Timerman for our shared and extensive approach to, and our common interest in . developing each and every sector of Russian-Argentinian relations.

Question (to both ministers): What does the current visit mean for the development of trade and economic relations between Russia and Argentina?

Sergey Lavrov (answers after Héctor Timerman): It is very important that we are not just interested in the diversification of our trade ties, but we wish to focus on investments. We would welcome Argentinian investments in the Russian economy. Today Héctor Timerman confirmed the interest of Argentina in a more significant flow of Russian investments. These are sufficiently realistic plans. The prospects for our investments going into the Argentinian energy sector, including hydro- and nuclear energy, are already a subject of focused discussions. We expect that competitive benefits of our companies, who are interested in entering these economic sectors, will be duly appreciated by our Argentinian colleagues.

I would also like to mention the multilateral aspect. Argentina is a member of MERCOSUR, an association, which was created for the promotion of economic cooperation among member states and the development of trade, economic and investment relations with external partners. Russia has established work-related contacts with this organisation. We are interested in creating a legal framework for them. Taking into consideration that the treaty on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union by the "troika" – Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus (and also Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in the near future) will be signed tomorrow, we would be interested to establish formal relations between this integration process and MERCOSUR in Latin America. This is a very prospective association, and we support these trends in all possible ways.

Question: Was the possibility that Argentina may join BRISC discussed? What steps should Argentina make to join this organisation? If this topic was not discussed during the current negotiations, will it be touched upon at the forthcoming summit in Brazil?

Sergey Lavrov (adds after Héctor Timerman): We are supportive of of developing countries, or as we call them, countries with growing economies, in international economic relations and of the fact that these economies are on the increase. In the G20, the BRISC is interacting with many fellow-thinkers, including Argentina, as well as Mexico, Indonesia, also with Saudi Arabia on some issues. Currently, this cooperation format is at its optimum , even more so that we are all supportive of the implementation of the agreements of the G20. Let me remind you that there was no progress since 2010, when decisions regarding a significant reform of the International Monetary Fund were made. There were changes, to be more precise, but they were negative. The United States simply lost any interest in the IMF reform, and then countries of the European Union somewhat "calmed down". It is not a quite correct approach. We believe that those decisions were the result of agreements, consensus and compromises. The promise must be kept. At the height of the crisis of 2010, western countries were interested in this reform to attract additional contributions from countries with economies in transition. Now, when this crisis is not so acute, they want to keep their domineering influence without any changes. Such a position cannot be justified. We will closely cooperate on this and many other issues within the G20 and in other formats, where interests of BRICS countries and other developing economies are the same (there are many such areas). As to the formal extension of the BRICS group, this issue is subject to the consensus of this body. The ideas to plan further extend it have not been discussed yet. Everything in its own time.

Question: Taking into account the unprecedented activation of Russia's dialogue with Latin America, can we expect summit level contacts with Argentina and other countries of the region in the near future?

Sergey Lavrov: Yes, we can. As you know, the BRICS summit will be held in Brazil in the middle of June. The Brazilian hosts said that according to the tradition (as it was at the previous summits) an additional meeting in the outreach format will be organised and Argentina is invited to it. Therefore, during the Latin American trip of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, he will have the opportunity to meet the President of Argentina, Cristina de Kirchner, and heads of other countries of the region.

Question: It is expected that the US President Barack Obama will make an announcement about the provision of military aid to the Syrian opposition. Several of the US mass media report that Barack Obama is considering the possibility of training Syrian militants using US military specialists. How will this affect further cooperation between Moscow and Washington on the Syrian issue and impact on the process of Syrian settlement in general?

Sergey Lavrov: I would prefer to wait to hear what the US President Barack Obama really announces. Your interest is understandable: assessments of experts regarding specific announcements were distributed yesterday. We are worried about the information that the measures announced could include military aid to the opposition, preparation of militants of the Syrian Army, as well as readiness by the United States to remove its objections regarding supplies of man-portable air-defence systems (the most dangerous weapons) to the opposition, which can create a serious threat for civil aviation not only in this region but also elsewhere.

I repeat, we don't want to run ahead of the story, we want to wait for specific announcements about the intentions of the United States in Syria. We would not like them to forget similar experiences, when Washington armed, supported and financed Mujahideens, which grew into Al-Qaeda who in turn delegated their "best" representatives to commit terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September 2001 and in Washington. I would not like such mistakes to be repeated.

The only means for the settlement of the Syrian crisis is not through a military victory by the regime or the opposition, but through negotiations. We are concerned that the agenda agreed some time ago calling for another round of the Geneva negotiations is still not being acknowledged. Our western colleagues, and the National Coalition along with them do not want to go to Geneva until the SAR President Bashar al-Assad repudiates. Everybody understands that this is an absolutely unrealistic and ideologised position. In this case, as in the case of the IMF reform, agreements about the initiation of a dialogue between the government and the opposition regarding political reforms in Syrian, and agreement on transitional structures based on consensus and general consent, should be implemented. We need agreements rather than ultimatums of unilateral capitulation to the Syrian government.

We expect that the door for a dialogue is still open. I will have a phone conversation with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, today, who wishes to discuss the Syrian topic among other things.