Nicaraguan Leader Ortega Gets Warm Moscow Welcome

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, gestures while reviewing a honor guard, after a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. Ortega is in Russia on an official visit. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

(AP)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow will move to develop ties with its old ally, Nicaragua.

Medvedev hosted Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in the Kremlin on Thursday.

Nicaragua is the only country that has followed Russia in recognizing the independence of two separatist regions in Georgia after the Russian-Georgian war in August. Nicaragua was a close ally of Moscow in the 1980s under Ortega, a leftist who returned to power in 2006.

Ortega's trip to Moscow follows a four-day visit by Russian navy ships to Nicaragua that ended Monday.

The Kremlin has moved to rebuild old alliances with Cuba and Nicaragua and cultivate new friends like Venezuela — all part of efforts to expand Russia's global clout and flex its muscles close to the United States.

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