The president of Guinea-Bissau and acting leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Umaro Sissoco Embaló, meets today in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to whom he intends to convey a “message of peace “.
The Guinean head of state declared, before leaving Bissau, that he was traveling to Russia and Ukraine “with a message of peace” and that he was going to advise the Russian president to meet and talk with the Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky – which has not happened since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló is the second African head of state to visit Russia, after Senegalese President Macky Sall, who was in Moscow in June as interim president of the African Union.
“We have to talk about peace, because the world is in torment,” said Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
The Russian ambassador in Bissau, Oleg Ozerov, told the Russian agency TASS that “Moscow is among Guinea-Bissau’s priority partners” and that “bilateral relations have historically developed in a friendly atmosphere.”
“Guinea-Bissau greatly appreciates the contribution of our country to the recovery of independence and the strengthening of the Guinean state,” said the Russian diplomat.
The same ambassador said that he hoped that, during today’s high-level meeting in the Russian capital, Putin and Sissoco Embaló would exchange opinions “on various topics, namely those related to bilateral cooperation, international, pan-African and regional problems and the preparation of the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit in 2023 in St. Petersburg”.
Oleg Ozerov stressed that “bilateral cooperation privileges the training of personnel, mineral extraction and the fishing economy” and that the “political dialogue between the two countries is of a regular nature.”
In March this year, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, visited Guinea-Bissau.
In June, the Prime Minister of Guinea, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, attended the XXIV International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg; In October, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his counterpart, Suzi Barbosa, held consultations in Moscow, “as preparatory initiatives for today’s high-level meeting.”
Oleg Ozerov stated that “the Russian side hopes that the majority of African states will be present at this international forum.”
Source: TSF
