MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to extend a helping hand to African countries in strengthening their sovereignty while the West wants the continent to stay dependent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a reception for foreign diplomats on the occasion of Africa Day.
"We are ready in today's conditions to support the countries of Africa in strengthening their sovereignty, solving pressing socio-economic problems and defending Africa’s legitimate and worthy place in the modern world, including the process of reforming the UN Security Council," Lavrov said.
He stressed that the fight against new colonial and neo-colonial practices was coming to the forefront.
"The methods of the West have changed, but the essence of its policy towards African countries has remained the same - to subjugate everyone to its will, to live at the expense of others, using more sophisticated forms of exploitation within the framework of the so-called rule-based order," Lavrov pointed out.