Russia FM's Africa tour will not include Tunisia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commenced a five-day African tour that began in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, yesterday. Lavrov held high-level meetings including with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi when he assured him about the “food security for Egyptians.”

Lavrov’s African tour will not include Tunisia but he will visit Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of the Congo.

RIA Novosti news agency quoted Lavrov saying: “Russia has long-standing and distinguished relations with Africa, since the era of the Soviet Union.” He added that Moscow “has been actively working in recent years to regain its position in the continent,” pointing out that the “African countries share this approach”.

During his visit to Egypt, Lavrov reassured Egyptians about concerns related to the food crisis.

“We asserted the Russian grain exporters’ commitment to fulfilling all their obligations,” said Lavrov in a press conference after his talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.

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“President Vladimir Putin also confirmed this during a recent phone call with Egyptian President Al-Sisi.”

Regarding Lavrov’s meeting with Al-Sisi, the Egyptian Presidency revealed that he discusses “some bilateral issues in various fields, especially cooperation in the fields of grain and food supply, as well as the oil and gas sector in the context of the current crisis in those sectors.”

“Egypt supports all endeavours that would expedite the political settlement of the [Russian-Ukrainian] crisis to maintain international security and stability,” it added.