ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/. Clashes between the troops of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on the border between the African countries have not affected the sentiment of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, Oleg Ozerov, an ambassador-at-large at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS.

When asked if the escalation of the conflict between the countries soured the mood at the forum, Ozerov, who is and the head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, said, "Absolutely not". He said he was unsure whether the delegations of these countries communicated with each other in St. Petersburg.

"They may have. Their delegations are here, both from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Rwandan troops had crossed the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Agence France-Presse, the DRC army has repulsed the Rwandan units and plans to chase them as they retreat. According to the news agency, one Rwandan soldier was killed in the clashes.

Relations between the two neighboring countries took a turn for the worse in January 2021 when the rebel group March 23 Movement started military operations in eastern DRC. Congolese authorities accuse Rwanda of supporting these rebels.