Readout of FAO Director-General QU Dongyu’s bilateral meeting with Victor Vasiliev, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation

Rome - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and Victor Vasiliev, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, today met to discuss the close collaboration between the Organization and the country. Alexander Yakovenko, Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Andrey Guryev, CEO and Chairperson of the Management Board of PJSC PhosAgro, were also present at the meeting.

The Director-General expressed his appreciation for the support the Russian Federation is providing to FAO and underlined the importance of Members’ involvement in the UN Food Systems Summit follow-ups. He highlighted the need to partner with the private sector in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and referred to the new FAO Strategy for Private Sector Engagement 2021-2025.

Discussions also centered around the recently adopted Russian Green Standard Law, which aims to provide a competitive edge to the agricultural producers in the country and worldwide. Possible cooperation with FAO in promoting the "green economy" and a "Green Brand" was also discussed.

During the meeting, the Russian Federation’s support to the FAO Global Soil Partnership was also discussed, including possible areas for further collaboration such as recarbonization of global agricultural soils (RECSOIL), as well as the importance of soil management and current global shortage of fertilizers which is likely to put pressure on food prices.