The Russian foreign minister announced this Wednesday, in Luanda, that his country will host a Russia/Africa summit at the end of July and highlighted the role of the Angolan President for peace on the African continent.
Sergei Lavrov pointed out that the next Russia/Africa summit will take place in St. Petersburg and stressed that Russia at the United Nations “will continue to support” the positions defended by the Africans themselves to find solutions to conflicts.
“Our positions on cooperation in the international arena coincide from the beginning, we defend the great principles of the UN, namely, the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of each State and the sovereign equality of States,” he said.
Speaking this Wednesday at the headquarters of the Angolan Foreign Ministry, in Luanda, at the end of the talks between the Russian and Angolan delegations, Lavrov also defended the reforms and the expansion of the participation of developing countries, especially countries African, Asian and Latin American. in the UN Security Council.
Russia “supports the efforts of the African Union, the SADC (Southern African Development Community) and the effort of Angola, including the personal effort of President João Lourenço, towards the pacification of Africa.”
“And President Lourenço is playing a particularly important role by chairing the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region,” he stressed.
Speaking to reporters, together with his Angolan counterpart Téte António, at a press conference without the right to ask questions, the Russian minister also spoke about the conflict in Ukraine and criticized “Western efforts to transform Ukraine into the theater of war hybrid against our country”. .
“We also call Ukraine’s attention for carrying out a clearly colonialist policy against the Russians living in that country,” he stressed, arguing that his country’s offensive is aimed at protecting the Russians in Ukraine.
“Precisely to protect this population that has become the target of illegal actions in Ukraine, and also to protect our own security, we launched the military operation about which we regularly share information with our friends,” Sergei Lavrov concluded.
The talks “reaffirmed the importance of our open dialogue, in a spirit of friendship,” the Russian official added, inviting his counterpart to visit Russia to continue the talks.
For his part, the Angolan minister, Téte António, followed a line of greater equidistance in relation to Ukraine and said that the war “has had no consequences for all humanity, but has caused various destructions and loss of human life.”
And, taking into account our historical relations with Russia and also the relationship we have with Ukraine, we believe that by applying here the principle of non-interference, defended by the African Union, and given these consequences of the war, we continue to call for a dialogue negotiated and we continue to defend the need for a ceasefire”, insisted the Angolan official.
Source: TSF
