MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Russia is working on the practical steps to open an embassy in Niger, with the process of appointing an ambassador to the country already underway, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview with TASS following the first Russia-Africa ministerial conference.

"In Niger, of course," he said in response to a related question. "Work is already underway to establish an embassy there," Bogdanov added.

"We currently have specific plans, and perhaps I’ll even reveal a little secret - the process of appointing an ambassador to Niger is underway," the deputy minister added.

Diplomatic relations between the USSR and Niger were established in 1972, and the two countries exchanged embassies at that time. The Russian diplomatic mission in this country was closed in 1992, with Niger’s mission in Russia closing three years later. "I was in Niamey once. There’s now some kind of prison where the embassy used to be. Everything was just abandoned," said Bogdanov.

Earlier, the head of the Consular Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Klimov, stated in an interview with TASS that Russia is considering the possibility of opening embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. In late 2023, Russia opened an embassy in Burkina Faso.