MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation with Interim President of Mali Assimi Goita invited him to participate in the second Russia-Africa summit which will take place in Russia in 2023, the Kremlin press service said following the talks.
"Vladimir Putin invited Assimi Goita to attend the second Russia-Africa summit scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in the summer of 2023," the statement reads.
Additionally, the two leaders discussed the pertinent issues of the further development of bilateral relations, including trade and economic ties, the Kremlin noted. It was also reported that the parties agreed to continue their contacts.
Mali has gone through two military coups since August 2020. The first one, carried out on August 18, 2020, resulted in the ousting of the country’s president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, with Bah Ndaw appointed as interim president by the coup leaders. However, in May this year, Ndaw was ousted by the same group of military officers, and Mali’s Constitutional Court declared Colonel Assimi Goita "president of the transition" and head of state.