Russia-Myanmar Relations
The actual Russia-Myanmar relationship
embraces the period of about 60 years.
USSR was one of the first countries to
welcome Burma's liberation from the colonial
rule. The ambassadors of the two countries
exchanged notes establishing diplomatic
relationship on February 18, 1948 in the embassy
of the Soviet Union in London.
Top level delegation exchange took place in
1955. U Nu visited the Soviet Union in October
1955 to meet soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev
and Nikolai Bulganin.
Khrushchev made the return visit to Burma in
December 1955. Top-level contacts became regular
after Khrushchev visited Burma again in 1960. By
that time a trade agreement had been signed
between the two countries propelling a mutually
beneficial economic cooperation based primarily
on "Burmese rice in exchange for Soviet
equipment" contracts. The Soviet Union
constructed the Yangon Technical University,
Inya Lake Hotel and Sao San hospital in Taunggyi
in Shan state.
With the Soviet Union dissolution in the
beginning of the 90's the relations between our
countries were almost reduced to full stop.
However, the Russian Federation, the successor
of the USSR, didn't lose its interest towards
the distant Myanmar; instead, it found a will to
restore the former partnership and promote its
further development.
The late 90's saw the activation of
Russia-Myanmar relations in all the spheres in
both bilateral and multilateral formats. It was
favoured by the common step-up of the Russian
foreign policy, particularly of its Asian
direction.
Similar or identical approaches of Russia and
Myanmar towards the major international and
regional issues contributed to restoring the
high level of politic relationship and active
multilateral diplomacy cooperation.
The regular consultations between the Foreign
Ministries of our countries, conducted in
accordance with the corresponding Protocol
signed in 1999, allow us to synchronize our
positions on the major challenges of today's
world.
Identical long-term strategic interests of
Russia and Myanmar and the proximity of our
foreign policy priorities determine the firm
commitment of our nations to the principles of
multipolarity with UN's central role in
international relations. Russia and Myanmar
proceed from the common assumption of the
necessity to promote the dialogue and to
strengthen cooperation on providing peace,
security, stability and prosperity to the Asia
Pacific region. In order to achieve these goals
it's our intention to cooperate closely on
bilateral basis as well as in multilateral
format involving other countries and regional
forums.
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