International Relations

(asked on 26th September 2014) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of increased ties between North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
David Lidington Portrait
David Lidington
This question was answered on 15th October 2014

North Korea: Russian relations with North Korea have been gradually increasing in the last 12 months. The Russian Duma voted in June to 'forgive' nearly $10 billion of debt. At the beginning of October DPRK Foreign Minister Ri visited Moscow and, according to DPRK media, during this visit Russia agreed to provide food aid to the DPRK. A series of Russian investment visits reportedly planned for the rest of 2014. Russia shares international concerns over North Korea’s security posture and is a party to the (stalled) Six-Party Talks to resolve these concerns.

Iran: Presidents Putin and Rouhani recently met in the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit. We have expressed our concerns that the proposed “oil for goods” deal between Russia and Iran seems to run contrary to ongoing sanctions against Iran. Russia also continues to be heavily involved in the Iranian civilian nuclear sector, running the Bushehr nuclear plant for Iran. The UK and Russia also work together as part of the E3+3 to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Venezuela: Venezuela has signed a range of cooperation agreements over the past ten years with Cuba, the People's Republic of China, Russian Federation and Iran, mostly in commercial areas. There are regular meetings between the Venezuelan government and those governments. Venezuela and Cuba have very strong political, economic and social ties. In June 2014, a resolution published in the Venezuelan National Gazette gave agreement for North Korea to reopen an embassy in Caracas

Cuba: Russia and Cuba have continued the traditionally close ties established between the Soviet Union and Cuba. President Putin visited Cuba prior to the BRICS summit in July and reportedly ‘forgave’ $30 billion of Cuban debt to the Soviet Union (90% of Cuba’s outstanding debt to Russia).

China: Russia and China have expanded their relations in the last 12 months, including signing in May of a key energy deal - the culmination of years of negotiations. The deal, worth an estimated $400 billion will see Russia start to provide natural gas resources to China from 2018, and through to 2044. This was an expected development between the country with the world’s largest energy reserves (Russia), and the country with the highest energy consumption (China). China has not supported Russia’s actions in Ukraine at the UN Security Council, nor in the UN General Assembly. Both sides have announced they will sign further deals to expand trade and investment at the upcoming ASEM summit in Milan this month.

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