Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia held the first Thai – Russian Political Consultation to jointly set the direction of cooperation post COVID-19 pandemic and sought Russia’s support in launching FTA between Thailand and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to expand trade and investment collaboration between the two countries.

On 27 August 2020, H.E. Mr. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs held the first Thai-Russian Political Consultation meeting with H.E. Mr. Igor Morgulov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, via videoconference, with participation of H.E. Mr. Thanathip Upatising, Ambassador of Thailand to the Russian Federation, and H.E. Mr. Evgeny Tomikhin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Thailand. During the Consultation, both sides discussed overall Thai - Russian relations and cooperation in bilateral, regional and international frameworks and jointly set direction of cooperation post COVID-19 pandemic. Both sides agreed to attach importance to convening various sub-committees and working groups to keep the momentum of bilateral cooperation going, especially in disaster prevention, science and technology, innovation, and public health. The Thai side also sought Russia’s support in launching the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation between Thailand and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to expand trade and investment collaboration between the two sides.

The Vice Minister and the Deputy Minister also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest such as cooperation in the frameworks of ASEAN-Russia, APEC, ASEM and the United Nations.

The meeting was held under the Plan of Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for the years 2019 - 2021, and was the first at the level of Vice Minister/Deputy Minister under the Plan.