MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak at the Russia-Africa parliamentary conference on Monday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Friday.

"On March 20, when the president receives the Chinese leader, he will address the 2nd parliamentary conference ’Russia-Africa’," Ushakov said, adding that the event would pave the way for the 2nd Russia-Africa summit, scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg from July 27-28.

This conference "is like a preparatory event for the second Russia-Africa summit, which will be held July 27-28 in St. Petersburg," Ushakov, who heads the organizing committee of the summit, said. According to him, the summit forum will be preceded by more than a hundred different events.

Ushakov noted that delegations from about 40 countries of the African continent, including 14 heads of legislative bodies, have confirmed their participation in the conference. A total of more than 200 African parliamentarians are expected.

Speaking about the preparations for the July summit, the Kremlin aide assured that Moscow was "actively working", "meetings are being held on a regular basis within the framework of 17 specialized working groups that focus on various areas of cooperation between Russia and Africa."

"We believe that this summit is important for the further development of the entire complex of relations - political, economic, and military-technical - between Russia and the African countries," Ushakov said. He drew attention to the fact that many heads of states and heads of regional African organizations had already confirmed their participation in the summit in St. Petersburg. "We are already working on the final declaration of the summit, on the action plan of the Russia-Africa partnership for 2023-2026. We believe that the second summit will give a new impetus to the development of comprehensive Russian-African relations," Ushakov said.