Africa

Russia-Africa Summit to Bring Cooperation to New Level, Russian Foreign Ministry Says

12:54 GMT, 21 February 2023
© AP Photo / Valery Sharifulin
Roman Sanin
All materials
In 2023, the Russian-African ties are developing further. Russia is holding joint naval exercises with China and South Africa and is preparing to host the second Russia-Africa Summit in summer. At the same time, this year is marked by the Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov's visits to African countries in January and February.
Sputnik
The Russia-Africa Summit is the most important event on the Russian-African agenda, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, noting that the event should bring a whole new level of cooperation to the two parties.
On 20 February, Russian officials from the Presidential Administration, the Apparatus of the Government, and other institutions held a meeting under the presidency of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, dedicated to the preparation for the second Russia-Africa Summit.

"The board noted that the Summit, planned to take place at the end of July in Saint-Petersburg, is viewed as the most important event in the Russian-African foreign policy agenda. In this context, the aim of the forthcoming summit is defined as a transition to a new qualitative stage in cooperation between Russia and Africa in terms of the transforming international relations system," a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The participants of the meeting put forward proposals on the issues to be discussed during the Summit, and emphasized the necessity to formulate political, economic, and humanitarian projects corresponding with the interests of both Russia and African nations, which will be presented at the Russian-African Summit in Saint-Petersburg, the ministry added.
Africa
Russia, Africa 'Fated' to Expand Partnership, Ex-Ambassador to Mali, Burkina Faso Says
10 February 2023, 15:16 GMT
This year's meeting is a follow-up to the first Russia-Africa Summit which took place in October 2019 in Sochi, and was attended by 54 leaders of African states and saw 92 agreements and memoranda signed amounting to around $13.4Bln.
The second summit is set to be held at the end of July 2023 in the Russian city of Saint-Petersburg.
In his 18 February message to participants of the 36th meeting of the African Union Assembly held this month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the importance of African states for Russia.

"For Russia, African states have always been and remain important and reliable partners. We are united by the desire to build a just multipolar world order based on true equality and the rule of international law, free from any form of discrimination, coercive diktat or sanctions pressure," he said.

Putin continued the message elaborating on the forthcoming Russia-Africa Summit, saying that it will "allow us to set new goals for expanding cooperation between the Russian Federation and its African partners in a wide range of areas."
Earlier in December last year, the US also held a summit with African states, the US-Africa Leaders Summit. Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sudan, and Zimbabwe did not take part in the meeting. The first four countries did not receive an invitation from the US, and Zimbabwe was still under Western sanctions, which includes a travel ban.
The US-led summit, widely viewed as part of the US' attempts to counter Chinese and Russian influence in Africa, was criticized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova for Washington's "inability to equal dialogue and fair competition."
As an example, she noted the "so-called [US] Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act which provides for collective punishment for any cooperation with Russia."

"Russia offers honest, mutually beneficial and equal cooperation without punitive measures and unilateral sanctions, or interference in internal affairs," the spokeswoman said.

In his turn, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that unlike the US, Russia invites all African countries to the summit.
AfricaRussiaSecond Russia-Africa SummitSergey Lavrovcooperation
Discuss