Moscow is working on preparations for the second Russia-Africa summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this in a video address to the participants of the international inter-party conference "Russia - Africa: Reviving Traditions," posted on the website of the Russian diplomatic office.
"The second Russia-Africa summit is planned for 2022. Work on its preparation and content is already underway," the Minister said.
In particular, the Russian Foreign Ministry has launched the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. "The coordination, public and scientific councils have been created under it. The Association of Economic Cooperation with Africa has been established, uniting major Russian companies operating in African markets," said Lavrov. -" In the near future it is planned to develop roadmaps for Russian-African cooperation in economic, scientific and humanitarian spheres".
The Russia-Africa summit was held in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019, co-chaired by Russian and Egyptian presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It was attended by representatives from all 54 countries of the continent, 43 of which were represented at the highest level.
African issues at SPIEF 2021
According to Lavrov, issues related to African topics will be part of the program of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) scheduled for June.
"According to an established tradition, the Russia-Africa summit is preceded by events in various areas of cooperation. The Russian-African public forums held at the end of last year have contributed to the strengthening of academic, cultural and youth ties. African issues are supposed to be included in the program of the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June", said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will take place on June 2-5. The Roscongress Foundation announced that the event would be held in a full-time format using modern digital technology. Face-to-face participation of foreign delegations is also expected with all security measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia and the African Union troika
A meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia and the African Union troika is planned for 2021, Lavrov said. "Another meeting of Russian and African Union troika Foreign Ministers is scheduled for this year," he said.
The minister also expressed confidence that the inter-party conference promotes mutual understanding between the participating countries and their peoples. "I expect that its outcome will intensify inter-party interaction and help saturate the agenda of the upcoming summit," Lavrov added.
"The Afro-Union troika is the presiding countries of the previous, current and future years. At the moment they are Egypt, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Helping African countries fight coronavirus
Russia has been helping Africa from the beginning of the pandemic to combat the spread of the infection, demonstrating the all-weather nature of its friendship with countries on the continent, Lavrov said.
"Our friendship is truly all-weather in nature. Therefore, as early as last spring, Russia began assisting African countries in fighting the spread of the coronavirus infection," the minister said in a video address to participants of the international inter-party conference "Russia-Africa: Reviving Traditions," posted on the Russian diplomatic mission's website on Thursday.
He recalled that the Russian side had sent medical supplies and personal protective equipment and sent specialists and doctors to African countries. "Russian business structures working on the continent have also energetically joined in providing assistance," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
"At the moment our cooperation in this direction is reaching a new level. We are actively negotiating the registration of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V in Africa and its delivery both bilaterally and within the framework of cooperation with the African Union," Lavrov concluded.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS