Russia and member states of the South American Common Market (Mercosur) signed on Friday a memorandum of understanding to create a political and cooperation dialogue mechanism.
This mechanism is aimed at increasing political, economic, technical and cultural consultations between Russia and the South American block.
Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov and his counterparts from the Mercosur member states -- Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela -- and its associates, Bolivia and Chile, signed the document in Brasilia, capital of Brazil.
South American foreign ministers are attending a meeting in Brasilia of the South American Common Market Council.
Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim highlighted the importance of this agreement for the bloc.
"This demonstrates our desire to operate not only as a customs union or a common market, but also as an entity with external personality," he said.
"This document lays the foundation for regular meetings and reflects well our desire to keep a deep dialogue on common principles such as defending peace, multilateralism, self-determination, non interference and peaceful solution of conflicts," Amorim said.
For his part, Lavrov said this committment does not only mean political contact, but also strengthens consultations between both sides in fighting terrorism, drug-trafficking and organized crime.
Brazil and Russia signed on Thursday several agreements on science, technology, farming, energy, culture and tourism.
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