RIO DE JANEIRO, August 12. /TASS/. Brazil and Russia have signed a memorandum on strengthening financial and economic cooperation after the US said it could slap secondary sanctions or duties for trade relations with Moscow, the Brazilian government bulletin said.

"The memorandum of Understanding is aimed at coordinating aspects of financial and economic cooperation between the two countries by establishing a regular bilateral economic and financial dialogue," the document says.

Earlier, the American administration said it could apply both secondary sanctions and additional customs duties against the countries that are Russia’s key trading partners.

The document also says that the sides will organize expert commissions and councils to outline further steps towards strengthening their partnership. Apart from that, Russia and Brazil agreed to facilitate the work of the bilateral high-level commission on cooperation and interact within the BRICS and G20 formats.

Top-level Russian-Brazilian negotiations took place in the Kremlin on May 9. Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said his government wants to boost strategic partnership with Moscow, outlining culture, science and technology as priority areas. Also, Brazil wants to develop cooperation with Russia in the spheres of defense and space research.