Somali authorities would like a Russian embassy to be opened in Mogadishu; the issue may be raised at a ministerial meeting between Russia and African countries in Sochi this fall, Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi told Sputnik.
"Our embassy is working in Russia; it has never been closed despite civil wars, and in return, there is a need to open a Russian embassy in Mogadishu. We welcome the opening of the Russian embassy if Russia has the desire," Fiqi said.
He said the issue of opening a Russian embassy in Somalia has been raised by previous foreign ministers in talks with Russian officials, and he may also raise it during the upcoming Sochi conference.
In March, Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, told Sputnik that the two-day meeting of Russia-Africa foreign ministers in Sochi in the fall would summarize the interim results after the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2023 and outline the main directions for further development.