ULAN BATOR, February 16. /TASS/. The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Sergey Naryshkin, says he sees no obstacles for developing cooperation between Russia and Mongolia, calling the country Moscow’s strategic partner.
"I should say that for us Mongolia is not only a good neighbor but in fact one of the leading strategic partners," the State Duma speaker said at the meeting with Mongolia’s Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg on Monday.
Naryshkin reminded that Moscow and Mongolia, a land-locked country located between two big neighbors, Russia and China, have had a long and very fruitful cooperation.
"We have no political problems that would hamper the development of cooperation between our countries," the lawmaker stressed, adding that Russia and Mongolia have "similar or almost very close positions" on the majority of international issues.
Naryshkin said he expects that his two-day visit to Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator, which started on Sunday, will encourage the development of bilateral cooperation.
"I hope that the visit of the parliamentary delegation that includes the representatives of all the four factions [of State Duma] will encourage the development of inter-parliamentary ties and will contribute to developing cooperation between Russia and Mongolia," the politician said at the meeting with the chairman of Mongolia’s parliament, Zandaakhuu Enkhbold.
The Mongolian politician stressed that "the development and deepening of traditionally good neighborly relations with Russia is one of the priority directions of Mongolia’s policy."
"It is also important to further enrich the strategic partnership between our countries with a specific content," he said.