Russia’s Lavrov to visit Peru next week: Lima

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Peru next week, officials in Lima said, and meet with President Ollanta Humala who recently chastised his own brother for conducting gas deal talks in Moscow without his consent.

Lavrov will arrive next Tuesday in order to assess bilateral ties and prospects for expanded cooperation, Peru’s Foreign Minister Rafael Roncagliolo said Wednesday.

Humala, who took office July 28 as Peru’s first leftist leader in almost four decades, will receive Lavrov at the presidential palace, a Peruvian foreign ministry source said.

Roncagliolo said Peru was keen on reaching cooperation agreements with Moscow in technology, trade and investment, and that the eventual purchase of Russian arms was also a priority.

The visit comes shortly after a clash between Humala and his younger brother Alexis, who last month met with senior officials including Lavrov in Moscow — without the approval of his then president-elect brother — to discuss deals on gas and fishing.

The president branded his brother’s trip a “serious mistake,” and his Gana Peru nationalist party barred Alexis for six months.