Русский
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been in New York attending the annual UN General Assembly. During the UN events, several other bilateral meetings were held as numerous countries wish to discuss current affairs with Moscow. Lavrov subsequently met with Ayman Safadi, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan.
The ministers had a detailed exchange of views on key issues on the Middle East agenda, with a focus on the escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and called for steering the situation towards a political and diplomatic track in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.
The parties confirmed the alignment or similarity of Russia’s and Jordan’s respective approaches to resolving the crises in Lebanon, Syria and other persistent crises in the region. Both sides reaffirmed they should be resolved in strict compliance with the norms of international law, taking into account the interests of all parties involved.
Additionally, they covered priority aspects of further expanding the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and Jordan.
Russia and Jordan have had positive ties stretching back to the Soviet times. Investment and trade relations, however, have been limited. It is only in recent years that concrete steps taken to enhance and develop these. In 2017 a memorandum of cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and Jordan was signed to increase trade turnover with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) by launching new joint projects.
In 2023 Jordan and Russia signed a bilateral cooperation program between Jordan and Russia, in the presence of the Russian ambassador to Jordan and discussed plans for Jordanian-Russian Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. Negotiations are also being held to ensure entry into the Russian market for Jordanian agricultural products. Numerous official trade visits to Russia have been undertaken, during which issues such as the transportation of goods and customs duties introduced by Russia were discussed, with the process still ongoing.
In 2023, Russia’s trade turnover with Jordan amounted to about US$250 million, and has halved due to problems with the Israel-Palestine war. Russian exports typically consist of food products and agricultural raw materials, metals, wood and pulp and paper products, chemical products, mineral products, and various machinery. An important area of cooperation between Russia and Jordan is agriculture, with rice being a primary commodity and both sides wanting to increase Russian exports. Due to the regional situation, the immediate development of trade development ties remains uncertain, with the onus on security concerns at this moment.
