President of Mongolia Battulga Khaltmaa, yesterday, met with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which will conclude today. One key topic at both meetings was the establishment of natural gas pipes, to which the two leaders agreed. During the meeting with his Russian counterpart, President Battulga mentioned his previous proposal on renewing the 1993 Agreement on Friendly Relations and Cooperation between Mongolia and Russia and establishing it without a defined term, and discussed the spendings of Russian RUB 100 billion soft loan on the reform of the Ulaanbaatar Railway Joint Venture and in energy sector and deepening the cooperation between the National Security Councils of the two countries, as well as adopting a revised cooperation plan. President Battulga also said that Mongolia was studying the possibility of accessing a port in the Far East, while making certain proposals, including establishing a joint working group to intensify the implementation of the Trilateral Economic Corridor program.

Furthermore, he made a proposal to cooperate on the establishment of the Northeast Asian super grid for energy and handed over an economic feasibility study related to the proposal and the projects to the Russian President. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized his satisfaction with the positive indicators in all areas of bilateral cooperation and economic growth in recent years and expressed interest to further intensify bilateral cooperation in agriculture, railway, and defense sectors. He then reiterated his support for the proposal of President Battulga on building the natural gas pipes between Russia and China via Mongolia. President Vladimir Putin said that the RUB 100 billion soft loan to Mongolia, which is currently under negotiations, can be used on the reform of the Ulaanbaatar Railway Joint Venture and a thermal power plant. The sides agreed to jointly celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Khalkha River Battle next year and organize a joint exhibition, produce a feature film and a documentary, and publish a book in the margins of the anniversary. Moreover, President Battulga invited President Vladimir Putin to pay a visit to Mongolia with the purpose of celebrating the anniversary together.

As for the bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, President Battulga requested President Xi Jinping to support certain matters, including the establishment of the Northeast Asian Supergrid, construction of gas pipes cooperation on ranking the projects within the Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor program, and value-added export of agricultural products. Also, President Battulga proposed to establish a joint working group to build a highway connecting Zamyn-Uud with Altanbulag. President Xi Jinping expressed his readiness to cooperate on complex reform of the comprehensive strategic partnership relations between the two countries, increasing bilateral trade turnover to USD 10 billion by 2020, railway construction, development of process manufacturing, and regional peace and security. President Xi Jinping supported the joint implementation of President Battulga’s proposals. Moreover, President Xi Jinping reaffirmed the invitation for President Battulga to make a state visit to China and attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in the first quarter of 2019. The Chinese side informed that it had accepted and will support a proposal on export of agricultural products from Mongolia to China, made by President Battulga during their last meeting in Qingdao.

Published Date:2018-09-13