ST. PETERSBURG, July 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meetings with leaders of African countries lasted longer than scheduled as the Russian leader tried to devote more time to his colleagues, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told reporters during the second Russia-Africa summit.

"I saw that if a bilateral meeting was scheduled to last half an hour, it could last an hour and a half. Evidently, these discussions were very substantial, very detailed, because African countries were very interested in what Russia has to offer, and all of this had to be discussed," she said.

The second Russia-Africa Summit is taking place at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum on July 27-28, in parallel with economic and humanitarian forums. Similar to the first such summit in 2019, the event is being held under the rubric "For Peace, Security and Development." The event is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the event’s official information partner and photo-hosting agency.