Sergey Lavrov’s plane landed at the Oyo airport late on Sunday. Prior to that, Russia’s foreign minister had a very busy schedule in Egypt, which he visited on the first leg of his African journey.
Oyo, which is situated on the banks of the Alima river, is Congo’s true gem; the region, which is located about 400 kilometers from the capital Brazzaville, is known for its scenic views and rich nature. Even though the town has only about 5 thousand inhabitants, most of the time it serves as the main location where guests and foreign delegations are welcomed.
Sergey Lavrov’s first meeting on Monday was with the country’s President Denis Sassou Ngesso. The Congolese leader walked from his residence nearby to meet with Russia’s top diplomat in the morning. Sassou Ngesso is a seasoned politician and former military figure who served as the nation’s leader from 1979 to 1992, then went into opposition for some time before eventually being re-elected again in 2009.
Cooperation between Moscow and Brazzaville in energy, transportation infrastructure and communications as well as joint projects in defense and military equipment sales were on the agenda during President Sassou Ngesso’s talks with Lavrov.
According to Sergey Lavrov, humanitarian cooperation between the two nations is also important. Besides the president, he also met in Oyo with the Republic of Congo’s Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso, whom Russia’s top diplomat called “my close friend”.
Gakosso speaks fluent Russian. He spent many years in St.Petersburg (then Leningrad) during the Soviet era, studying journalism. He seemed to be very keen to speak to the Russian media during Sergey Lavrov’s visit, demonstrating his knowledge of Russian traditions, food and culture. According to the Congo’s top diplomat, Russians have qualities that he and many of his compatriots admire:
“Russian people are kind” – Jean-Claude Gakosso told Sputnik – “We will never forget how you invited us as students to your country, giving us very good education. I studied in Leningrad’s Zhdanov Institute. Life was great. I visited the Kirov Theatre, the Hermitage.”
Cooperation with Brazzaville in education is one of the Soviet traditions that Moscow wants to preserve and develop. According to Sergey Lavrov, the African nation will have an increased quota for its students who wish to study in Russia:
“We significantly raised the number of scholarships for Congolese students in Russia up to 150 persons – this is the third largest quota among the African countries. In total, more than 8 thousand Congolese students have graduated from our higher education institutions, including the foreign minister.”
Moscow and Brazzaville may also start cooperating in other fields, such as epidemiology, as Sergey Lavrov mentioned that Russia offered to create a joint laboratory for these purposes. Russia has also supplied the republic with a humanitarian shipment of monkeypox test kits.
When it comes to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Moscow welcomed Congo’s wisdom regarding the issue:
“Today we praised the balanced and responsible position by the President of the Republic of Congo and the Foreign minister on the issue of Ukraine and the situation surrounding it” – said Sergey Lavrov – “They understand that there is a global dimension to this situation, which is being artificially created by our Western colleagues.”
A joint Russo-Congolese commission on bilateral trade and economy will convene in Brazzaville in September, giving Moscow and its Congolese partners a chance to map out some new projects.
On Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov will be visiting Uganda on the third leg of his Africa trip to hold a series of meetings with local officials.