The second summit between Russia and Africa will be held in the “Venice of the North” in July.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has extended an invitation to African leaders to attend the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in July, describing the gathering as a chance to further Moscow’s ties with countries on the continent.
In a statement on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “I am confident that the second Russia-Africa summit… will make it possible to define new tasks for expanding our country’s constructive cooperation with African partners in the political, trade, economic, scientific, technical, humanitarian and other fields.”
The president congratulated the African Union (AU) on its 60th anniversary and lauded it as a world body that has played a significant role in advancing “multilateral dialogue and cooperation” for many years.
The Russian leader also hailed the union’s cooperative efforts, noting that they had made it possible to start different types of regional integration processes as well as mechanisms for group responses to local crises.
Putin said that “Russia has always attached particular importance to strengthening friendly relations with African partners,” adding that the 2019 Sochi summit between Russia and Africa has enhanced these connections in “many areas.”
Representatives from 54 African nations, including 43 heads of state, were present at the gathering.
Putin invited African leaders and regional organizations to the second summit, which will take place in late July in Russia’s second-largest city, and said in March that the Kremlin was “very seriously” preparing for it.
