NAIROBI, December 28. /TASS/. The Russian embassy has reopened in Ouagadougou after a 31-year internal.

As the embassy told TASS, Burkina Faso's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore spoke at the opening ceremony. Alexey Saltykov, Russia’s ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, made a statement on Moscow’s behalf.

"The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso [Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela], as well as the ministers of defense, energy, sports, education, the deputy speaker of the transitional legislative assembly, Russian compatriots and Burkinabe journalists and representatives of foreign diplomatic corps," the embassy said.

The embassy earlier told TASS that the diplomatic mission in Burkina Faso would match the average size of most Russian embassies in West Africa in terms of staff. Saltykov said the opening of the embassy would give an impetus to relations between the two countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned plans for reopening Russian embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa summit. He emphasized that this would be a real practical step to significantly intensify cooperation with African countries in the political, business and humanitarian fields, as well as in culture and tourism. In August, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed instructions to resume the activities of Russian embassies in Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso in 2023.