MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Venezuelan counterpart Rafael Ramirez will hold talks on October 8, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Tuesday.

“For the development of intensive top-level and high-level political contacts between the two countries, the upcoming talks are designed to give an impetus to Russian-Venezuelan relations and confirm mutual strive for dynamically developing strategic partnership, which was created with the active participation of Russia’s big and sincere friend — late (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez,” Lukashevich said.

“Russia and Venezuela reveal the unity of positions on the events in Ukraine, on the Middle East settlement and on other international issues. Our countries have close stances at the UN, the HRC (Human Rights Council) and on other multilateral platforms,” Lukashevich said.

Venezuela is Russia’s second trade and economic partner in Latin America after Brazil (mutual trade turnover reached $2.45 billion in 2013), he said.

Russian leading companies such as Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, the National Oil Consortium Inter RAO EES, operate on the market of Venezuela. The high-level Russian-Venezuelan commission works effectively. The commission gathered in Moscow in May 2014, Lukashevich said.

Energy joint projects, primarily the development of oil and gas deposits, are the base of investment cooperation. “We’re planning to start the joint development of shelf fields, the construction of a thermal power station using petroleum coke and the launch of a joint venture to increase productive capacity of oil reservoirs at the fields, which have developed for a long time,” he said.

“Russian-Venezuelan military-technical cooperation is also developing,” Lukashevich said.

Educational, cultural and humanitarian cooperation is the priority in Russian-Venezuelan relations, he said. Lukashevich noted progress in student exchanges, contacts between scientists and arts workers. This will help Russia and Venezuela increase the level of mutual understanding between the peoples, he said.