The ministerial conference of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum, set to take place for the first time on the African continent — in Cairo, Egypt, on December 19–20 — plays a key role in advancing the full spectrum of Russian–African relations, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
“The forum’s work is vital to promoting the entire range of Russia–Africa ties. It naturally complements and enriches the dynamic bilateral relations between Russia and African nations,” Lavrov wrote in an article for African media ahead of the second ministerial conference of the forum.
The minister noted that there are many reasons for the growing closeness between Russia and Africa, recalling that African partners remember the Soviet Union’s support for their liberation from colonial domination.
“We are proud that our predecessors provided this assistance with dedication and without self-interest. It was the Soviet Union that played a leading role in the adoption, exactly 65 years ago, of the UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Moscow then continued to help the newly independent African states build their national economies and create educational and healthcare systems,” Lavrov wrote.
He also reminded that the partnership forum was established in 2019 and that two Russia–Africa summits — in Sochi in 2019 and in St. Petersburg in 2023 — have already been held successfully. In addition, sectoral meetings on specific areas of cooperation are organized on a regular basis, the minister added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti