MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. Final preparations are underway for the second Russia-Africa Summit, to be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an online briefing on Friday.

"Preparations are in their final stages. We are about to enter the homestretch. Almost all countries have confirmed their participation at the highest level. It’s not just ten to twenty countries, but more than half of all African nations have confirmed their participation," the top diplomat said.

However, in Lavrov’s words, Western countries "are shamelessly pressuring African countries, demanding every day that they either cancel plans to attend the summit or reduce the level of their participation." "This is the manner of behavior of our Western colleagues," Lavrov added.