Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reported that he signed an agreement with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic Miguel Vargas Maldonado on the terms of the abolishment of visas for mutual trips of citizens of the two countries.

"The Dominican Republic is our promising partner in Latin America and the Caribbean basin. We were pleased to state the dynamic development of comprehensive Russian-Dominican ties and agreed to work to extend and deepen them," Lavrov said on Monday after negotiations with Vargas Maldonado. "We are both interested in developing and improving the bilateral treaty framework: We just signed an intergovernmental agreement on the terms of the abolishment of visa formalities and made another step toward turning Latin America and the Caribbean basin into a zone of mutual visa-free trips for citizens. The Dominican Republic became the 25th country out of 33 with which we signed this agreement."

"I am confident that it will contribute to the further development of human contacts, especially cooperation in the sphere of tourism," Lavrov stressed. "The Dominican Republic is among the most attractive recreation areas for Russian citizens: 230,000 people visited it last year, up 75% compared to 2016. The mission of the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic is operating in Moscow, and we have a special agreement on the basis of which we are carrying out this work."

Vargas Maldonado thanked Russia for the support provided in the UN. "We will be a friend to the Russian Federation in this format," he said.

"During the negotiations we studied a wide variety of issues of mutual interest, in particular the development of tourist ties and the promotion of cooperation in the bilateral and multilateral formats," the Dominican Republic’s minister of foreign affairs noted. The mutual abolishment of visas will make it possible for Dominican citizens "to visit Russia, which has rich history and culture, more often," he said. "It will contribute to the growth of the flow of Russian tourists," he affirmed.

He also expressed hope for the development of cooperation in the sphere of investments, which "will contribute to the implementation of important economic projects.".