ST. PETERSBURG, July 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have begun talks in St. Petersburg. The meeting is being held at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna.

The meeting between Putin and Ahmed opens a series of contacts between the Russian leader and the heads of delegations coming to the forum and the Russia-Africa summit. Over the next few days, in addition to attending the summit and the forum itself, the Russian president is expected to hold separate meetings with each of the African leaders arriving in St. Petersburg. On Wednesday, in addition to the Ethiopian prime minister, Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as to meet with BRICS New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff.

Putin last met with the Ethiopian prime minister during the first Russia-Africa summit in Sochi in 2019.

The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum are scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28. As before, the event will be held under the motto "For Peace, Security and Development". The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the summit’s information partner and photo hosting agency.