Foreign Minister of the Republic of Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso, at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa ministerial conference, which begins in Sirius federal territory in Russia's Sochi, ironically commented on Russia's "diplomatic isolation" and congratulated on the success of the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan.
"I would like to congratulate the Russian Federation on the success of the BRICS Summit in Kazan just three weeks ago. I would also like to welcome Russia's diplomatic success in the international arena, because many people said that Russia was in diplomatic isolation. And everyone has seen now that almost half of the world has gathered in Kazan," Gakosso said at the meeting in Russian.
At the beginning of the meeting, the ministers greeted each other warmly, "Dear Sergey Viktorovich, how's life treating you?" Gakosso asked. "Fine! Everything is fine with us," the Russian minister answered.
Lavrov noted that this was their third meeting in a year, including their recent meeting at the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan. Gakosso said traveling to Sochi brings back fond memories for him because he used to visit the city when he was a student in Russia's Donetsk city.