🎙Ambassador at Large, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia – Africa Partnership Forum, Oleg Ozerov exclusively for #Newsweek

Key points:

🔹The world has entered an era of powerful transformations, which have influenced inter alia, Russian-African relations. The pace of these developments has gained an unprecedented momentum.

🔹The Russia–Africa International Parliamentary Conference and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow shattered the myth of Russia's alleged isolation due to the events in Ukraine.

🔹People in Africa understand very well that the former Soviet republic has turned into an arena of confrontation between the new and the old world paradigms, between different visions of the future, not just a trivial feud between neighbors.

🤝African countries count on Russia's support.

🔹We support Africans in their efforts to complete the decolonization process in a number of countries, including small nations like the Union of the Comoros.

🔹Russia has a comprehensive view of sovereignty in its political aspect, which encompasses, above all, the consolidation of state structures, peace-building, counter-terrorism, and information security.

🔹Despite an interest in certain minerals, Russia does not view the countries in the continent as a raw material base for its economy. Our primary interest is to assist the development of Africa's domestic energy and electricity markets, where we have considerable expertise, especially as regards nuclear energy.

☝️We are convinced that the upcoming Russia-Africa Summit, due to its great importance to all participants, will be a success. St. Petersburg will once again confirm its status as the 'Northern Palmyra,' a center where new meanings and historical codes are born.

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