SAINT PETERSBURG – Russian President Vladimir Putin said African leaders’ participation in the Second Russia-Africa Summit asserted the mutual endeavor to boost joint cooperation with Africa in all directions.
In his word on the second day of the Summit’s activities, Putin said that the participation of a large number of African delegations in the two-day summit showed their keenness on promoting joint cooperation.
Russia and Africa have been linked by bonds of friendship and close ties over the past decades, Putin added.
Russia has provided constant assistance to African countries to face colonial manifestations for decades, although the manifestations of this colonialism still exist until now and are exploited by the former colonial countries, particularly in the fields related to economy, media and humanity, Putin further noted.
Russia honors the prodigious memory of the prominent sons of Africa, including Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nelson Mandela, Ahmed bin Bella, Omar Al-Mukhtar and others, Putin said.
Russia pays tribute to African freedom fighters and national leaders, he stressed.
