- Mexico and Russia are entering a new stage of a relationship that is close, broad and deep.
- Mutual cooperation on the pandemic will increase. The Sputnik V vaccine will be fill-finished in Mexico in the coming months, and Sputnik Light, a single-dose version of the Russian vaccine, may be registered with Cofepris.
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard met this Wednesday in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on the first day of his official visit to Russia. Their meeting was followed by a press conference to announce the outcome of the conversations, in which they stressed the mutual desire of both countries to address the major global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign Secretary Ebrard thanked Russia for its assistance with gaining timely access to the Sputnik V vaccine, and announced that work is already underway to enable Mexico to begin the fill-finish process for the vaccine between May and June. "Authorizing the Sputnik vaccine early was a success. Today, more than a million people in Mexico have received the vaccine and the results have been very positive, which speaks to the quality of the science and the technological development in Russia."
In a press conference with the media in Mexico, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced that talks will take place next Friday between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and regulatory authorities in Mexico, such as Cofepris, on starting the registration of the new Russian vaccine, Sputnik Light. Work is being done on this official visit to import either ready-to-use doses or the active ingredient of Sputnik Light, which would significantly advance the National Vaccination Plan: "Sputnik Light is a single-dose vaccine. This means reducing the logistical difficulties of two doses. And, if only one dose is needed, it doubles the speed at which we can vaccinate" [...] "I believe that this is a great scenario for Mexico, since we did not have this," confirmed the foreign secretary.
For his part, during the meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Minister Lavrov stressed that Mexico is the only country in North America that has given emergency use authorization to the Sputnik V vaccine, and that their dialogue on cooperation on various issues was very productive.
The two officials signed the Political Consultation Plan, which will serve as a roadmap to deepen the bilateral dialogue and collaboration on a wide range of issues over the next four years. These include cooperation on strengthening multilateralism; collaboration between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and Russian authorities; a Russian Cultural Center in Mexico City; bilateral tourism promotion; mixed commissions, and Mexico's participation in regional Eurasian economic forums.
Before the meeting at the Ministry, the Foreign Secretary visited the RDIF, which financed the development and clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine at the Gamaleya Center. He highlighted the commitment to work together to fight the pandemic, and discussed the calendar of vaccine shipments and the plan to do the fill and finish operations in Mexico. Foreign Secretary Ebrard also met with the Deputy Research Director at the Gamaleya Center, Denis Logunov, who played a key role in developing the Sputnik V vaccine.
Foreign Secretary Ebrard's visit came in response to Minister Lavrov's visit to Mexico in February 2020. Mexico and Russia are communicating at the highest level, as seen by the phone call between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and President Vladimir Putin in January 2021. Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that, with this official visit, Mexico and Russia are embarking on "a stage of a very close relationship between our countries. The pandemic has opened the door for us to expand and deepen this relationship."
