President Michel Temer arrived in Moscow in the early afternoon of Tuesday (6:30 a.m. Brasília time) for a two-day official visit to the country (20-21 June). Temer will have meetings with President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the chairpersons of the two houses of the Russian Federal Assembly, Valentina Matvienko and Vyacheslav Volodin.

The visit comes at the invitation of President Putin and marks the resumption of the high-level agenda between Brazil and Russia. The two presidents will meet on Wednesday to discuss ways to deepen the strategic bilateral partnership established in 2002, including through expanded economic trade and advances in scientific and technological cooperation.

The meeting is also likely to address topics on the global agenda. Russia is an important bilateral partner for Brazil, as well as within the United Nations, the G20 and the BRICS.

At the end of the meeting, bilateral agreements are expected to be signed aiming to advance a series initiatives of mutual importance in the areas of investment promotion, trade facilitation, customs procedures, film co-production, political dialogue and others.

On 20 June, President Temer will attend a meeting with Russian investors during which he will introduce the current reform agenda and investment opportunities in Brazil.

Russia is one of the main destinations of Brazilian agricultural exports, and trade flows are expected to rise: the two countries intend to increase bilateral trade to US$ 10 billion annually, from US$ 4.3 billion last year. The signs are promising. Between January and May 2017, Brazil-Russia trade grew 42% compared to the same period of 2016, reaching US$ 2.1 billion.