MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The Russian embassy in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou will start its work on December 28, a Russian diplomat working in Ivory Coast told TASS.

"Russian Ambassador to Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso Alexey Saltykov will hold an official ceremony of reopening the embassy in Ouagadougou on December 28 with the participation of Burkinabe officials, representatives of diplomatic corps of friendly countries, mass media and compatriots," the diplomat said, adding that Saltykov will serve as Russia's ambassador to Burkina Faso until the appointment of a new envoy.

The embassy in Burkina Faso will be of average size and will correspond to most Russian diplomatic missions in West Africa in terms of the number of employees, the diplomat said.

In August, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed orders to reopen Russian embassies in Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso in 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Summit about plans to reopen Russian embassies in Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea. He emphasized that this would be a real practical step to significantly intensify cooperation with African countries in the political, economic, humanitarian, cultural and tourism spheres.