Nigerian Foreign Minister Says Plans to Visit Moscow in March, Meet With Lavrov

"As a matter of fact, I have a trip scheduled to Moscow [...] I believe it's next month, to meet with Minister Lavrov," the minister said, adding that he plans to discuss nuclear energy cooperation development in Russia.

"Very much interested. We also hope to see that, Russia, works with Nigeria in resolving, some of our regional problems," Tuggar said, answering a question whether the country is interested in having Rosatom construct a nuclear plant.

"It's a good idea. Anything to support trade … that will help the development of Nigeria and African countries is something that we encourage," the minister said, when asked about Russia's plans to do exchanges with African countries in digital currencies.

"Well, some of the countries that are claiming to have left ECOWAS [the Economic Community of West African States] for instance, are looking to Russia for help. They are looking to Russia for support. We hope that ... we are not saying Russia should not to help them, but Russia should also be mindful of certain security concerns certain issues to do with peace and tranquility in our region. So we hope that Russia works with Nigeria, which is the largest country in West Africa to resolve some of these issues. We are concerned about some of the overtures that they are [Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger] making to Russia," Tuggar said.