SOCHI, March 23. /TASS/. Russia values Burundi's balanced position when Ukraine is brought up at the United Nations, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference following talks with Burundian counterpart Albert Shingiro on Thursday.
"We appreciate the country's balanced position at the United Nations in regard to the situation in Ukraine, and we note their insight into what is going on there, including the roots of the problem, which our Burundian colleagues are demonstrating," Lavrov said.
According to the top diplomat, Russia and Burundi coordinate and align their positions well on multilateral platforms, including the UN.
"We note the positions of our Burundian partners in support of Russian initiatives at the UN General Assembly, including on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, on trust-building and transparency measures in outer space, on the inadmissibility of the glorification of Nazism, on international information security, on drafting a convention to combat cybercrime and on a number of other resolutions," the foreign minister said.
Moscow welcomes Burundi's constructive role in peace-making efforts in Africa. "We paid special attention to the situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the situation in the Central African Republic and in Somalia. Hundreds of Burundian peacekeepers are working in all these areas, still hot spots, and this is indeed a very important trend in the activity of the African Union and sub-regional organizations on the continent," Lavrov added.
"We confirmed our readiness to continue to provide every kind of assistance towards strengthening regional stability on the African continent, using both our bilateral capabilities and position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Separately, we focused on preparations for the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg," Lavrov summed up.