Putin Calls for Enhanced Eurasian Union-LATAM Cooperation

On Thursday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin called for intensifying economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Latin America.

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"The UEE should actively develop relations with countries striving for an equal and mutually beneficial association," he said during the summit of the EAEU, an integration scheme that encompasses Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Putin also emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), with multilateral institutions such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

"It is important to continue the formation of free trade agreements and invite interested countries to jointly use the international payment infrastructure available to EAEU members in national currencies and central bank digital currencies," the Russian leader stressed.

"I note with satisfaction that cooperation within the Eurasian Union framework continues to strengthen. Our association is constantly asserting itself as one of the independent and self-sufficient centers of the emerging multipolar world," he added.

To enhance Euroasian countries' financial sovereignty, Putin called for strengthening banking and settlement infrastructure, harmonizing the EAEU financial market, and creating a regional risk rating agency.

These policies will create favorable conditions for capital to remain within the EAEU and its allied countries, thus encouraging greater economic development, he explained.