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'Desire for Closer Ties': French Writer on Russia's FM Visit to Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov embarked on his sixth African visit on Monday. The top diplomat first traveled to West Africa's Guinea and then visited the Republic of Congo on Tuesday.
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The visit of Russia's FM Sergey Lavrov to Guinea shows a desire for closer ties between Moscow and African countries, Sebastien Perimony, a member of the Schiller Institute in Germany and author of the book Seeing Africa with the Eyes of the Future, told Sputnik Africa.
"There is a very clear rapprochement, due to the willingness of African countries to work with Russia and Russia's desire to get involved on the African continent," he said.
According to the writer, it is particularly important that Lavrov is able to visit West Africa, where popular revolutions have recently taken place in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

"All these countries have freed themselves from Western neocolonialism and have drawn closer to Russia. This visit allows to clearly demonstrate this convergence of wills," the analyst emphasized.

The new African tour of the head of Russian diplomacy began on Monday with an arrival in the capital of Guinea, Conakry, which he had previously visited in 2013. On Tuesday, Lavrov flew to the Republic of Congo, which he visited two years ago. Although the next countries on the tour list have not been officially disclosed, the diplomat is expected to visit Burkina Faso and Chad, according to local media reports.