Putin meets with the president of South Sudan

One of the first nations to recognise the African nation’s sovereignty was Russia.

On Thursday, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin. Both parties praised the meeting as a chance to strengthen their respective bilateral relationships.

“Relationships between our countries are rapidly evolving; we were among the first to recognise South Sudan’s sovereignty and independence. And I have to admit, we still think there is a lot to be done, particularly in the area of economic development,” Putin stated at the meeting.

“In really, this is just the beginning. We have a lot of great prospects in a lot of different areas, including energy,” he continued. The Russian leader declared his conviction that the construction of oil refineries in South Sudan with Russian enterprises’ involvement will strengthen commercial and economic connections.

According to Putin, Russia will help South Sudan manage its internal political crisis and maintain security.

“Of course, we are aware that the best course of action is to guarantee security and find solutions to all the issues and challenges you have had in the past. We will thus make every effort to assist you in this endeavour,” he stated. The Russian president continued by saying that he hopes to talk more about matters relating to regional security and stability.

Russia provides the Central African Republic with food aid.Russia provides food assistance to the Central African Republic
The world scenario, according to Kiir, “shows that no one can survive or succeed alone,” and South Sudan is no different. The youngest country on the earth, he said, “needs to have strong, influential friends,” and one of those friends is Russia. “We do not see alternatives to friendship with you,” he continued.

South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan in 2011, but only a short time after was engulfed in a civil war brought on by tensions between Kiir and Riek Machar, his former vice president. In August 2018, the rival factions came to a power-sharing arrangement.

In 2019, the president of South Sudan travelled to Russia for the inaugural Russia-Africa summit in Sochi. Putin stated that Africa was evolving into a new centre of power and that its political and economic significance was growing rapidly during the second summit, which took place in St. Petersburg this past July.