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Putin begins talks with visiting Eritrean president

These talks are the first ever meeting between Vladimir Putin and Isaias Afwerki

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday with his Eritrean counterpart, Isaias Afwerki, who is paying an official state visit to Russia.

As the Kremlin press service reported earlier, the two leaders plan to discuss the prospects for developing bilateral relations in various areas as well as a range of pertinent issues on the regional and international agendas. These talks are the first ever meeting between Putin and Afwerki.

Eritrea is located in northeastern Africa. The country is a former Italian colony (Italian Eritrea), which then became a part of Ethiopia until it declared its independence on May 24, 1993. Its capital is the city of Asmara. Afwerki is the country’s first and, so far, only president.

Diplomatic ties between Russia and Eritrea were established on the day the country’s independence was declared. Bilateral contacts became active only in the mid-2010s with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed paying regular visits to Russia. Since diplomatic relations were established, the first visit to Eritrea by a Russian foreign minister was on January 26, 2023, when Sergey Lavrov visited the country. Eritrea became one of the few countries that spoke out against the UN General Assembly’s anti-Russian resolutions over the situation in Ukraine.

According to data for 2022, the trade turnover between Russia and Eritrea amounted to $13.5 mln, including $12.7 mln worth of Russian exports to that country. Since 2015, Eritrean youth have been eligible for scholarships to study at Russian universities.

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