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Russia-Africa Summit

Russia, Africa united by understanding of freedom, diplomat thinks

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted that for both Russia and Africa, "freedom is primarily a matter of freedom of the spirit, freedom of will"

ST. PETERSBURG, July 29. /TASS/. The understanding of freedom unites Russia and African countries although it is being perceived differently, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the Second Russia-Africa Summit.

"[Russia and African countries are united] by freedom, the understanding of freedom. We perceive it differently. They do through the prism of their historic path of fighting colonizers. They have been following this path with difficulties, for a long time. It’s a long path. Yet they feel this freedom and fight for it. For us and for them as well, freedom is above all the issue of the freedom of spirit, of free will," she said.

According to Zakharova, there have been constant attempts to conquer or exploit Russia and Africa and nowadays this trend continues. She noted that in conversations with representatives from African countries she stressed that Russians significantly differ from other Europeans. "The key difference <...> is that they in Western Europe used to be slave merchants, while we weren't. They had slavery while we did not," she pointed out.

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Maria Zakharova Russia-Africa Summit

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