The diplomat stressed on the official site of the Russian Foreign Ministry that the event was intended to give a strong impetus to the development of Russia’s relations with the African continent.
“The Foreign Ministry is actively working with partners in Africa”, he added.
Last year, the head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov made four trips to the continent, the latest of which included Burundi, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and took place just over a week ago.
And all of them have confirmed that African leaders have even higher hopes for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum than for the first such event held in Sochi, he added.
The second Russia-Africa summit and economic forum is scheduled for July 26-29 in St. Petersburg. The first forum took place in Sochi on October 22-24, 2019 under the slogan “For peace, security and development”.
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