ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to reinstate Russian diplomatic missions and open new ones in African nations, as well as expand staffing at a number of functioning embassies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Russia's attention toward Africa is continuously growing, which is reflected in our plans to increase our diplomatic presence on the continent. We are ready to reinstate and open new Russian embassies abroad, as well as to increase the staff of a number of functioning embassies," he said at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.

According to the Russian president, this is "a real practical step toward significantly intensifying work with African countries in the political, economic, humanitarian, cultural and tourism spheres." "As an example, I would like to mention that, after a hiatus of several years, the Russian embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea will resume their work in the near future. We are planning to expand the network of Russian science and cultural centers, or as they are called, ‘Russian houses.’ They are already operating successfully in eight African countries, and in the near future they will appear in a number of other countries," Putin added.

Moscow also intends to help African countries open new embassies and consulates in Russia. "For our part, we would welcome reciprocal steps by our African friends and will provide assistance in opening new embassies, consulates and other missions of African countries in our country," the president concluded.

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.