SOCHI, March 23. /TASS/. Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye has officially confirmed his participation in the second Russia-Africa Summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with the African nation’s top diplomat Albert Shingiro on Thursday.

"We are grateful to Burundi’s president who in a special message confirmed his participation in the second Russia-Africa Summit set to take place in St. Petersburg in late July," Lavrov noted. "We will definitely prepare a productive program for his visit," he added.

Russia’s top diplomat also praised close cooperation between the two countries on the global agenda within the United Nations. "It is in our interest to increase the level and scope of trade, economic and investment cooperation," he pointed out.

Burundi’s foreign minister, in turn, conveyed President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s friendly greetings to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the country's people.