Africa-Press – Mozambique. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced in Moscow on Tuesday, after a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart, that Russia may help Mozambique with its internal defence and that he will soon visit the country.
Lavrov confirmed that he will visit Mozambique, providing the date at a later stage, Mozambican Foreign Minister Maria Manuela dos Santos Lucas invited him, and they met this morning to mark 50 years of “friendship and cooperation” between the two nations, which they celebrated on 25 June, also the anniversary of the African nation’s independence, according to Russian news agency TASS.
“The minister kindly invited me to pay another visit to the hospitable [city of] Maputo. I will do so without fail,” the Russian diplomat said at a press conference.
Lavrov’s last visit to Mozambique was in 2018.
During the press conference, Lavrov stated that Moscow remains available to “strengthen Mozambique’s defence capabilities”.
“We have a tradition of defence cooperation (…).We confirm our readiness to consider all requests from our Mozambican friends on issues related to the need to strengthen their defence capabilities and anti-terrorist potential,” the Russian minister stressed.
Lavrov emphasised that security threats, particularly those related to terrorism, continue to affect Mozambique and other African nations.
“The minister spoke about what the government in Maputo is doing to achieve the goals of national revival, overcoming the threats that remain in the north of the country [in Cabo Delgado], working to normalise the situation and facilitating efforts to create conditions for the people to return to a peaceful life,” he added.
Gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the countr, y has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, which has left thousands dead and caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced.
Lavrov stated that during the talks, the parties also discussed other conflicts in Africa, including the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Great Lakes region, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.
“As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Russia will certainly continue to create conditions that foster fair solutions to these conflicts, relying on the principle of ‘African solutions to African problems’ rather than external schemes. This is the only path leading to a reliable and sustainable agreement,” Lavrov emphasised.
For its part, Russia praised Mozambique for promoting the teaching of the Russian language “at one of its leading universities.”
“We express our gratitude to our Mozambican friends for facilitating the study of the Russian language in Mozambique at one of its central universities,” he said, referring to Eduardo Mondlane University, which offers Russian courses through the Open Education Centre of St. Petersburg State University.
Lavrov pointed out that Mozambicans are studying at Russian universities.
“Currently, the government quota annually admits 75 Mozambican citizens. We are ready to increase it,” the minister added.
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