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Africa Becomes One of Priorities in Russia's Foreign Policy, Says Ministry

12:45, 1 March 2024

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Muhammad Nooh Osman

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On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the country's parliament, the Federal Assembly, in which he outlined the main directions of the country's foreign policy. He also emphasized the strengthening of relations between Moscow and African nations.

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The African continent is becoming increasingly important for Russia's foreign policy course, Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, told reporters.

"The African continent is becoming one of the priority areas of Russian foreign policy. Now we see that after the second [Russia-Africa] summit, which our president [Vladimir Putin] yesterday called a breakthrough in his address to the Federal Assembly, we have been able to move on to systematic work on building long-term strategic cooperation with the African continent," he noted.

The day before, Putin said that the African continent is increasingly asserting its interests and the right to real sovereignty. "We sincerely support all these aspirations," he assured.

Ozerov added that Russia's cooperation with the countries of the African continent aims to create new forms of interaction and developing a constructive agenda in various areas.

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"Cooperation with the African continent is not cooperation against anyone, it is cooperation to create new formats of interaction and work out a constructive agenda in both political, economic and humanitarian dimensions that would allow our countries to move forward," he said.

According to Ozerov, despite the fact that only a short time has passed since the second Russia-Africa summit, certain results have already been achieved.

"These include the opening of two embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea. This is a very big breakthrough. It may not look like it, but it hasn't really happened in the last 30 years. [...] We still have a few more embassies to open, and we very much hope that both the Council of Experts [on Development and Support for Comprehensive Partnership with African Countries] and the [Russian State] Duma will support this movement, because it is absolutely necessary for us to be represented in all African countries," Ozerov emphasized.

"Despite all the problems, difficulties and conflicts, there is a consistent development of African countries, and we need to be part of this process," the diplomat concluded.