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Russia expects most African heads of state to attend Russia-Africa summit

Russian Ambassador-at-Large Oleg Ozerov noted that the summit should become a qualitatively new stage in the development of Russian-African relations

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Russia expects most African leaders to attend the Russia-Africa summit to be held in 2023, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Oleg Ozerov said at the international forum ‘Russia-Africa: What's Next?’

"We are starting to get positive answers. I think that most African heads of state will come to this forum," he said, "There are many serious political problems that need to be discussed and solved in order to arrange the architecture of a new multipolar world."

Ozerov noted that the summit should become a qualitatively new stage in the development of Russian-African relations. "The first meeting of the organizing committee has already taken place. We start literally on one of these days to work on the organization of the summit. It will take place under the same slogan as in 2019. We believe it is the right one and reflects today's stage of development. ‘For Peace, Security and Development’ is our common slogan, this is what our colleagues want," the diplomat added.

In parallel, he stressed, a major Business Council, which is to discuss the entire corpus of economic relations, will take place. "There are a lot of unresolved problems here. We need to create cooperation mechanisms that will allow us to effectively develop our economic ties. The task has become more difficult because of the serious sanctions that have been imposed against Russia and hit primarily African countries," Ozerov explained.

The second Russia-Africa summit will be held in July 2023 in St. Petersburg.

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