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African leaders showed political will, independence by attending summit in Russia — Putin

According to the president, the summit reaffirmed the firm commitment of both Russia and Africa to further development and the search for new forms and areas of mutually beneficial partnership

ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/. The leaders of African countries that came to St. Petersburg to attend the Russia-Africa summit showed political will and independence, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement for news media following the summit.

"Representatives of African countries have shown political will, demonstrated their independence and real interest in developing cooperation with our country. We appreciate this and are convinced of the successful future of Russian-African relations based on the traditions of time-tested friendship," he said.

According to the president, the summit reaffirmed the firm commitment of both Russia and Africa to further development and the search for new forms and areas of mutually beneficial partnership.

"In this context, it is a very telling sign that a solid package of joint documents was adopted as a result of the work," Putin said.

The second Russia-Africa summit is taking place at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum convention center from July 27-28. An economic and humanitarian forum is running in parallel to the event. Like the previous summit, the upcoming one will be held under the motto For Peace, Security and Development. The Roscongress Foundation is the summit’s organizer while TASS is the summit’s photo hosting agency and media partner. TASS is also holding the second Russia-Africa Media Forum.