Russia-Mongolia relations will reach great heights after both the nations sign the permanent bilateral treaty on friendship and extensive strategic partnership. This view Russia-Mongolia relations were expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview published on the Kremlin website on Monday.
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In an interview to Mongolia’s Udriin Sonin newspaper ahead of his visit to the capital Ulaanbaatar, President Putin said he would discuss possibilities for further strengthening mutually beneficial collaboration, including the implementation of the medium-term program for a strategic partnership between Russia and Mongolia.
“At the end of the visit, we will sign an interstate treaty on friendly relations and comprehensive strategic partnership, which will raise our bilateral ties to a fundamentally new level,” Putin said, adding that the document, based on the 1993 Treaty of Friendly Relations and Cooperation, will have no expiration date.
The Russian President emphasised that the two states (Russia and Mongolia) have a prolonged history of the mutually beneficial association. For example, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Ulaanbaatar Railway interstate joint venture, while the development of Mongolia’s virgin lands began with Soviet assistance 60 years ago.
Putin will visit Mongolia late on September 2 to attend celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the joint victory over Japanese forces on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov earlier said the new treaty would be signed by Putin and his Mongolian counterpart Khaltmaagiin Battulga after their talks in Ulaanbaatar on September 3.
Russia-Mongolia Relations
The bilateral relations between Mongolia and Russia have been traditionally robust since the Communist era when the Soviet Union supported the Mongolian People’s Republic. Following the dissolution of the USSR, Mongolia’s trade with Russia declined by 80% and China’s relations and influence over Mongolia increased, dramatically.
However, Russia has endeavoured to restore strong relations with Mongolia in recent years to enhance its standing as a regional power. In 2000, the Russian President Vladimir Putin made a landmark visit to Mongolia—the first by a Russian head of state since Leonid Brezhnev in 1974 and one of the first of Putin’s presidency and renewed a major bilateral treaty. The visit and improvement in bilateral relations was popularly welcomed in Mongolia as countering China’s influence.
