ST. PETERSBURG, July 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is to speak today at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg, and will also continue separate meetings with African colleagues.
The second Russia-Africa summit, as well as an economic and humanitarian forum organized by the Roscongress Foundation, are scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg from July 27 through 28. Like the first summit, the event will be held under the motto "For Peace, Security, and Development."
Actually, the program of the Russian-African summit kicked off the day before, on Wednesday, when Putin had talks at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and with the head of the New BRICS Development Bank Dilma Roussef.
The series of meetings will continue on Thursday morning before the plenary session. Putin is to meet Chairman of the African Union, President of the Union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, and Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
The plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum will be held on Thursday, and on Friday the plenary session of the summit of the same name will take place.
As Yury Ushakov, aide to the Russian President, said earlier, at the plenary session the Russian leader will make a big speech in which he will assess the current state of the system of international relations, including the formation of a new world order.
He will focus on the prospects for the further development of relations between Russia and Africa, in particular on Russian assistance to the national sovereign development of African countries, ensuring fair access to food, fertilizers, modern technologies and energy resources. Some of Russia's initiatives in this area will also be unveiled.
A working breakfast of the president with the heads of African regional organizations is also scheduled for today. As for bilateral meetings, the Russian leader will continue them not only on Thursday and Friday, that is, on the official days of the forum and the Russia-Africa summit, but also on Saturday, July 29.
As Ushakov emphasized, 17 heads of state of the African continent are expected to attend the Russia-Africa summit, and Putin plans to meet with each of them. In total, delegations from 49 African countries will come to St. Petersburg. According to experts interviewed by TASS, the arrival of high-ranking guests speaks of the growing independence of the countries of the continent and their attitude towards developing relations with Russia.
Among the contacts on the president's schedule for Thursday are meetings with the leaders of Mozambique, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Eritrea.