Russia is hosting the Russia-Africa Summit, which is a major event in Russian-African relations. It aims to reach a new level in the mutually beneficial partnership to address the challenges of the 21st century. The objective of this event is to strengthen the integral and equitable cooperation between Russia and African countries in all its aspects: political, security, economic, science and technology, cultural and humanitarian.
Oleg Ozerov, the head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum and Russia’s ambassador-at-large, said that Russia’s support for strengthening African sovereignty will be the main message of the Russian-African Forum to be held in St. Petersburg in July.
The Russian Federation is ready to continue to defend the principle of sovereign equality of states, the diplomat stressed. “So that each country has its own voice, so that the interests of the country are taken into account,” he said.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the West of putting pressure on African countries. “The West is putting pressure on African countries that want to participate in the Russia-Africa summit, which does not please African states,” Oleg Ozerov, ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry and head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, said on Thursday.
In the same vein, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell of “harassment diplomacy” against the Russian foreign ministry delegation to Africa
“Literally in their footsteps, every step of the way, the European Union, NATO and the United States of America, but above all Borrell … are really just chasing the Russian delegation in terms of information, and then already in practical terms,” Zakharova said on 8 February.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the Russian side has managed to achieve its foreign policy goals and objectives.
We recall that the city of St. Petersburg is hosting the Russia-Africa Summit, for the purposes and objectives of strengthening Russian-African cooperation in all its dimensions: political, security, economic, scientific and technological, cultural and humanitarian fields.
