MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Russia will play its role in shaping a new, fairer world order, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki said on Wednesday at a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
"It is necessary to press for the allocation of the necessary resources that are needed for transition to a new, civilized international order, based on mutual respect, cooperation, mutual complementarity and prosperity, where justice and the rule of law are the highest values. We must and are obliged to do this. I hope, and I am convinced, that Russia will play its part in this mission of the whole of humanity on the road towards solidarity and cooperation among free peoples," the Eritrean leader said.
President Afwerki is in Russia on an official visit. Earlier, he laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. He also thanked his Russian counterpart for the invitation to visit Russia.
Afewerki has been the head of state since 1993. He is the first and so far only president of Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in May of that year. In January this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Eritrea during a tour of Africa. Lavrov held talks with the Eritrean president on the economy, mining, information and communication technologies, agriculture, infrastructure projects, the capabilities of the sea and air port of Massawa, as well as Russia’s proposals for Eritrea’s industrial development.