Mozambique: Nyusi will meet Putin in July, during Russia-Africa summit – Lavrov

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Mozambique: Nyusi will meet Putin in July, during Russia-Africa summit – Lavrov

4:59 CAT | 31 May 2023

Photo: Twitter / @mfa_russia

Russian foreign affairs minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday pointed to a meeting between Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi and Vladimir Putin in July, on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg.

“We are preparing for the second Russia-Africa summit in July in St Petersburg and we are expecting a representative delegation from Mozambique, led by president Nyusi. Besides the agenda, there will be a bilateral meeting between president Putin and president Nyusi,” Lavrov said during a press conference in Maputo.

The head of Russian diplomacy was speaking after being received at the Presidency Palace in Maputo by Filipe Nyusi, at a meeting where a strengthening of bilateral cooperation was announced, including the resumption of technical-military cooperation, which had been suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the Mozambican side, Carlos Mesquita, the minister of public works who accompanied Lavrov throughout his visit to Maputo, did not comment on the invitation to Nyusi, but reiterated Maputo’s willingness to resume cooperation as defined after the Mozambican head of state’s visit to Russia in 2019.

Sergei Lavrov’s visit, “is an unequivocal demonstration of the common interest to take forward everything that has been agreed,” Mesquita said, stressing that “technical teams are reviewing all the memoranda and agreements,” and adding, “In a month and a half, at the summit [in St Petersburg] we will have the opportunity to potentially sign new agreements.”

🇷🇺🇲🇿 FM Sergey #Lavrov and Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources of Mozambique Carlos Alberto Fortes #Mesquita together with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique Manuel José #Gonçalves hold a meeting

📍 #Maputo, May 31, 2023#RussiaMozambique pic.twitter.com/1RVSeQI9m0

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) May 31, 2023

Lavrov’s visit to Maputo (his third, after 2013 and 2018) comes five days after Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, visited the Mozambican capital, with identical commitments to strengthen bilateral cooperation and an invitation for Nyusi to visit Kiev.

Mozambique reiterated a position of neutrality towards the conflict in Ukraine and called again for “direct dialogue between the parties as the surest way to end the war and return to peaceful coexistence between brotherly countries,” Mesquita said, summarising Nyusi’s meeting with Lavrov.

On Mozambique’s neutrality, the Russian foreign minister said he appreciated the fact that “Mozambique has its own position”, accusing western countries of trying to impose an agenda on Africa to “not trade, not dialogue” or expand relations with Russia.

“It is the ‘no’ that dominates,” he said, likening the “arrogant” position to a form of “neocolonialism” that Africa rejects, Lavrov pointed out.

“The Mozambican friends listen and decide for themselves, not giving in to blackmail,” he said, considering that what is at stake for Russia is a threat to its borders identical to that posed by Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

According to Lavrov, “certain countries give in on the vote, but at the same time decide for themselves not to accept any kind of sanctions”, in an allusion to the votes in the United Nations condemning the Russian invasion.

“At the same time, these countries continue to cooperate with us to find possible ways of increasing our relations, despite the difficulties imposed by the illegitimate sanctions which are going against the principles proclaimed by westerners for the globalised world,” he summarised.

With regard directly to Mozambique, Lavrov said that Russia “will continue to provide food assistance and in the coming days a new shipment will arrive at the port of Nacala”.

The strengthening of bilateral cooperation aspires to cover almost all fields, including the military area.

“We also agreed to reactivate the commission for technical-military cooperation that was on pause for five years due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sergei Lavrov announced.

Russia is “willing to supply equipment to our Mozambican friends, both to strengthen the country’s security and for anti-terrorist purposes”, he stressed, specifically in an allusion to the insurgent attacks in Cabo Delgado.

On an economic level, there are several Russian companies interested in the Mozambican market, he said, citing Kamaz, a manufacturer of heavy vehicles, as well as others linked to electricity and construction of gas pipelines.

“We are studying the possibilities of our entrepreneurs entering various projects in Mozambique,” he noted.

Also in the area of education, the intention of strengthening relations was expressed, as Russia has doubled the scholarships for Mozambican students in recent years: “And we hope in the next academic year to increase even more”.

A new memorandum on technical-vocational training “is being finalised”, he concluded.

The military offensive launched on 24 February 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced and more than 8.2 million to European countries – according to the latest UN figures.

The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war, 8,895 civilians killed and 15,117 injured, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.

Source: Lusa