President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the gala reception hosted in honour of the participants in the second Russia–Africa Summit.
Friends, we are happy that heads of state and government and leading politicians and government officials from practically all African countries have arrived in St Petersburg.
Such a representative range of participants gathered in our northern capital, as we call St Petersburg, convincingly illustrates the mutual desire of Russia and African countries to expand and deepen mutually beneficial ties and contacts. This is also a real confirmation of our common intentions to take Russia-Africa relations to a new, more advanced level in politics, security, in the economic and social spheres.
We are convinced that the St Petersburg summit will help us reach this main goal in full measure. We are looking to the future with optimism because Russia-Africa relations rest on the firm foundation of friendship and mutual assistance, an accumulated positive experience of our joint work and a truly rich and eventful history.
At one time, the Soviet Union rendered African nations tangible support in the struggle against colonialism, racism and apartheid, in the development of statehood and in the consolidation and protection of independence. It helped them lay the foundations of their national economies. Russia will continue to expand on these kinds of traditions.
It is equally important to note that today Russia and the African countries stand together for the formation of a just, multipolar world order based on the principles of sovereign equality of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and respect for peoples’ right to determine their own destiny
And, of course, our country will continue to make a real contribution to settling current crises and preventing the emergence of new hotbeds of tension on the continent, fighting terrorism and extremism, pandemics and hunger, and addressing issues of environmental, food and information security.
Russian MFA
