Russia's relations with Africa are "absolutely unique." Russia is confident in the future of this continent, and multilateral cooperation will continue to develop, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a plenary session of the Valdai international discussion club.
"We have very good, traditionally good relations with Africa as a whole, including the Republic of South Africa, dating back to Africa's struggle for its independence, from the time of the fight against colonialism. These absolutely unique relations have developed over the years when the Soviet Union and Russia supported African states in their fight for their freedom," the president said.
According to Putin, this foundation of relations developed in previous decades should be used today under new conditions to develop multilateral ties with African states. As for South Africa, this country, according to the president, is "a very active and effective partner of Russia" within the BRICS.
"We value it, we know the capabilities of the Republic of South Africa, we know the opportunities and we are confident in the future of the African continent and, of course, we will develop our relations with African countries," Putin said. We are talking about cooperation both with the countries we have been already cooperating and with those we are just developing relations, the head of state added.
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Based on materials from TASS