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Russia-Uruguay Relations: Moscow Seeks to Revive Trade and Ties

Russia-Uruguay relations: Lavrov meets Uruguay’s foreign minister, trade hits $150 million and Moscow plans a 2027 anniversary, while Uruguay backs Ukraine.

ByPeter
Red-hulled fishing longliner moored at a container port quay at sunset with cranes and a distant city skyline
AI-generated illustration

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Russia is working to rebuild its ties with Uruguay, a country the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) describes as having strong democratic institutions, through foreign-minister meetings, a revived trade commission and plans for a 2027 anniversary. Russian officials describe Russia-Uruguay relations as friendly but say they have slowed. Uruguay, for its part, has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations.

Diplomatic contacts in 2026

On Sept. 25, 2026, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Uruguay’s foreign minister, Mario Lubetkin, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. According to the ministry, the two discussed trade and economic cooperation and stressed interest in a Russia–CELAC political dialogue and in ties between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and MERCOSUR, the South American trade bloc. The ministry noted that Uruguay holds the rotating presidency of these Latin American groupings.

The push also runs through Russia’s parliament. In May, Grigory Karasin, who chairs the Federation Council’s foreign affairs committee, met Uruguay’s ambassador in Moscow. He said the “momentum of these relations has slowed somewhat in recent years,” according to a Federation Council statement, and he invited Uruguay’s vice president, Carolina Cosse, to visit Russia. The ambassador said Uruguay’s embassy plans events in 2027 for the 170th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

On Oct. 20, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov opened a Uruguayan photo exhibition at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. “Today our priority is restoring the volumes of bilateral cooperation that have shrunk for well-known reasons,” he said, as quoted by Interfax (Peter’s World translation). He added that Moscow is satisfied with regular ministerial meetings and the resumed intergovernmental commission.

Trade: beef, fish and a small but growing ledger

That commission held its third session on Sept. 11, 2025, after what Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary agency, Rosselkhoznadzor, called a “prolonged break.” The agency’s account says two-way trade rose 23% in 2024 to $150 million. Russian exports to Uruguay reached $58.3 million and Uruguayan exports to Russia $91.9 million. Rosselkhoznadzor’s head, Sergey Dankvert, co-chairs the body with Uruguay’s deputy foreign minister, Valeria Csukasi.

Those sums are small next to Uruguay’s main markets. In 2024, China took 24% of Uruguay’s exports, Brazil 18%, the European Union 14% and the United States 9%, according to a CRS overview of Uruguay, citing Uruguay’s export promotion agency.

Russian fishing boats in Montevideo

Russian fishing vessels also call at the port of Montevideo. On Aug. 25, 2026, the Russian-flagged longliner Alpha Crux lost stability and partly sank at Berth 7 while its 41 crew members were evacuated without injuries, Uruguay’s National Ports Administration (ANP) said. The ANP said the Naval Prefecture was investigating and that the ship may have been moving fuel between tanks. PortNews reported that the vessel was authorized by Russia to fish Antarctic toothfish in CCAMLR subareas 88.1 and 88.2 until Aug. 31, 2026.

Uruguay’s position on Ukraine

Commercial ties have not changed Uruguay’s votes on the war. In March 2022, Uruguay co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on “Aggression against Ukraine,” and its envoy, Carlos Amorín, condemned the invasion “in firm terms,” Uruguay’s Foreign Ministry said. In October 2022, Uruguay voted for the resolution rejecting Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions. “These referenda are in clear violation of international law,” Amorín said, according to the UN record.

The wider US view of Russia in Latin America

A 2022 CRS memorandum for the House Foreign Affairs Committee called Russia’s regional trade “limited,” at 2.6% of Russia’s global trade in 2021, and named Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua as its main security partners. It said the Russian government has for more than a decade used RT Actualidad and Sputnik Mundo as “primary vehicles” for its Spanish-language information strategy.

Analysis: what it means

Peter’s World’s view: the official record shows Russia-Uruguay relations are mainly economic and diplomatic, not military. The sources show no Russian base, arms sales or energy project in Uruguay. In practice, Moscow’s outreach runs through farm trade, fishing and the EAEU–MERCOSUR channel, with a government that rejects its war. Uruguay has kept the two tracks separate: it trades with Russia while voting against Russia’s annexations. What to watch: the 2027 anniversary events, any visit by Vice President Cosse to Moscow, and whether talks between the EAEU and MERCOSUR advance while Uruguay holds the bloc’s rotating presidency.

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