Russian, Paraguayan frgn ministers to discuss economic relations.

MOSCOW, June 2 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Hector Lacognata are expected to have
talks in Moscow Wednesday where they will focus on trade and economic
relations between the two countries and, on a broader plane, the
strengthening of cooperation between Russia and Latin America.
Hector Lacognata is making an official visit to Moscow, the first one
in the history of Russian-Paraguayan bilateral relations.
Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said
in this connection that the two sides are going to pay special attention
to Russia's dialogue with the countries making up Mercosur - the
organization of the regional trade agreement uniting Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay, and Uruguay.
He indicated that this organization plays an important role in the
promotion of integration processes in Latin America.
"Russia and Paraguay are linked by bonds of friendship and episodes of
a common past," Nesterenko said, adding that Paraguay became a second home
for many representative of the Russian emigration at the beginning of the
20th century.
"They made an important contribution to the rise of the Paraguayan
education system, science, culture, and national defense," he said.
Nesterenko added that some streets in the national capital Asuncion
bear the names of Russian officers who fell in combat operations for
Paraguay.