ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/. Russia and African nations will boost their cooperation in cyberspace, despite ongoing Western pressure and threats, a senior Russian diplomat told TASS on the sidelines of the second Russia-Africa Summit.

"Of course, they [Westerners] oppose such cooperation very much. During arrangements for this summit, they exerted direct pressure on our friends. They tried frightening them with sanctions and even went so far as to threaten them with asset freezes. For example, the families or children of individual African politicians living in Europe or the United States - they hear similar threats," said Artur Lyukmanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Information Security.

"But the forum is taking place anyway. Of course, we appreciate such responsible attitudes on the part of African countries. And this assures us that we can do more and do better in our relations and make this historical partnership between Russia and Africa stronger, especially in information security," the Russian diplomat said.

Lyukmanov also urged efforts "to protect citizens and public figures in our countries from the use of IT for criminal purposes, be it surveillance, fraud or simply attempts to mislead as part of information and psychological operations," he said.

The second Russia-Africa Summit is taking place at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum on July 27-28, in parallel with an economic and humanitarian forum. 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.