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More than 25 nations have expressed their interest in participating in the Intervision Song Contest, including Latin American countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with domestic and foreign media outlets on Thursday, TASS reported.

"Next year we will have a new opportunity to develop multilateral cooperation together - we are holding an international song contest called Intervision in September 2025, and more than 25 nations, including a number of Latin American countries, have already expressed their interest in participating in it," the Russian foreign minister said.

Russia is ready to welcome tourists from Latin American countries in every possible way, to show them Moscow and St. Petersburg, Lake Baikal, Kamchatka, Sochi, Suzdal, and Altai, Lavrov said. "Russia has a lot of picturesque places and historical monuments. One can also take a tourist ride on the Trans-Siberian Railway running through Russia to the Pacific Ocean and see the whole of it," the Russian top diplomat added.

For several years, Russia has been promoting initiatives to hold Eurasian film and song contests that will become an alternative to the ideologized and biased Western Oscar and Eurovision awards.

The Intervision Song Contest was held between 1965-1977 by the International Radio and Television Organization, which existed from 1946-1993. The contest was similar to Eurovision, the music prize of the European Broadcasting Union, which broke away from the organization. The contest included socialist countries close to the USSR, as well as Austria, Belgium, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Finland.

Earlier, Mikhail Shvydkoy, the special envoy of the Russian President for international cultural cooperation, told TASS that about 20 countries, including all BRICS members, have already confirmed their participation in the Intervision Song Contest that will be held in September 2025.