Kenyan Prime Minister Says May Visit Moscow This Year
18:18 12.02.2025 (Updated: 11:22 13.02.2025)
© AP Photo / Sergei Grits
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ADDIS ABABA (Sputnik) - Mudavadi spoke to Sputnik on the sidelines of the 46th ordinary session of the African Union Executive Council, which began on Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi told Sputnik on Wednesday he could visit Moscow this year to discuss cooperation with Russia in such areas as trade, technologies, and agriculture.
"So, these are areas that we would like to see resolved. And when I was talking, most likely, if all things being good, this year, I may be in Moscow," Mudavadi said in the interview.
The top Kenyan minister did not disclose the tentative date of his trip to Moscow, saying only that talks were underway.
"Trade, partnership, they [Russia] are very strong on matters of technology, ICT [information and communications technology]. These are areas. Agriculture," Mudavadi said when asked to name the areas of cooperation that he wanted to talk about with his Russian counterparts.
Mudavadi said that Kenya is looking forward to an end to "challenges of security" in Europe, which will allow it to resume imports of Russian fertilizer.
"We ... hope that somewhere along the line the challenges of security in Europe will come to an end because we used to get a lot of fertilizer from Russia. So, these are areas that we would like to see resolved," Mudavadi said in the interview.
The ongoing 46th council meeting will review progress toward achieving justice and reparations for African nations, which have suffered from the transatlantic slave trade and colonial exploitation.
Mudavadi went on to say Kenya has a history of very strong relations with Russia and wants to continue fostering them.
"We have had very strong relations with Moscow and Russia. Russia was one of the first countries to recognize Kenya's independence and one of the very first countries to put a mission in Nairobi. And we intend to continue working very closely with Russia," he said.
Mudavadi spoke about opportunities for increasing Kenyan exports to Russia. The eastern African nation can offer agricultural goods, such as tea, coffee, and flowers, he said.
"We have very good tea. We have very good coffee. This is a very good opportunity for us to grow the market in Russia. We also can do a lot of horticultural products. We are one of the biggest producers of flowers in the world, especially the roses and also forth. So we have a good opportunity to work with Russia on this," Mudavadi said.
