A lightning visit by Putin to Ulaanbaatar resulted in a commitment to bring the value of trade between Russia and Mongolia to ten billion dollars by 2020. The specter of Western sanctions pushes Putin to look for new commercial outlets or to revive those that had been neglected in recent years.
The Russian economic and commercial penetration in Mongolia has always been remarkable - it is enough to remember that Russia owns 51% of the Ulaanbaatar Railways and 49% of the Erdenet state-owned copper mine -, but in recent times trade had slowed down and in 2013 had barely exceeded the value of one and a half billion dollars.
The two leaders signed 14 different commercial and industrial cooperation agreements, ranging from the construction of infrastructure to transport, from energy sources - above all oil - to telecommunications, civil and military aviation. Putin also expressed interest in the local food industry, identifying Mongolian meat as a product Russia may need, provided Mongolia is able to meet the quality standards Russians are used to. The two leaders participated together in the commemoration of the battle of Khalkhiin Gol, a war episode of 1939 in which Russian and Mongolian troops were engaged together against the Japanese armies in a border war. "This year" said the Mongolian president Elbegdorj "the populations of Mongolia and Russia celebrate together the 75th anniversary of the battle of Khalkhiin Gol and open a new page in relations between the two countries".
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