The Russian leader is certain that Africa will “emancipate itself from the bitter legacy of colonialism.”
Russia welcomes the growing international authority of individual African states as well as the continent as a whole, as well as their desire to have their voices heard, President Vladimir Putin said in an article released ahead of the second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg.
Putin stated in a column written for major African media sites and posted by the Kremlin early Monday morning that Moscow’s connection with Africa has “strong, deep roots that have always been distinguished by stability, trust, and goodwill.”
“We have consistently supported African peoples in their struggle for liberation from colonial oppression.” “We have assisted in the development of statehood, strengthening their sovereignty, and enhancing their defence capability,” he wrote.
According to Putin, Moscow has always adhered to the notion of “African solutions to African problems” and supported the “sovereignty of African states, their traditions and values, their desire to independently determine their own destiny and freely build relationships with partners.”
“We have never tried to impose on partners our own ideas about internal structure, forms and methods of management, development goals and ways to achieve them,” Putin added.
The Russian president went on to say that he hopes Africa will “finally free itself from the bitter legacy of colonialism and neo-colonialism” and assume its “worthy place” on the world stage. He promised to assist African partners’ determination to “make their voices strongly heard and to take the continent’s problems into their own hands.”
“We are brought together by a common desire to shape a system of relations based on the priority of international law, respect for national interests, security indivisibility, and recognition of the United Nations’ central coordinating role,” Putin wrote.
Moscow favours “granting African countries their rightful place in the structures that determine the world’s fate,” such as the UN Security Council and the G20, as well as “reforming the global financial and trade institutions in a way that meets their interests,” Putin added.
The second Russia-Africa Summit is slated for July 27-28, alongside the Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which will serve as a forum for business meetings and panel discussions. According to Aleksandr Polyakov, deputy director of Russia’s Foreign Ministry’s Africa department, 49 countries have confirmed their participation.
The first high-level meeting, attended by approximately 50 African heads of state, was held in Sochi in 2019.
