Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the Republic of Burundi

Photo: MFA

Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the Republic of Burundi.

On July 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on a working visit to the Republic of Burundi, was received by its President Évariste Ndayishimiye and had talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation Édouard Bizimana.

The parties shared opinions on the entire set of issues to further strengthen the friendly Russian-Burundian relations and stated a considerable potential for cooperation in trade, economic, humanitarian and other areas.  They reaffirmed a strong commitment to deepen political and diplomatic dialogue, step up interaction in international affairs for settling global and regional crises. Similar approaches to the issues of establishing a more just polycentric world order were noted as well as the importance of furthering close coordination of actions at the UN and other multilateral platforms.

In view of Burundi’s current presidency at the African Union, the results and prospects of Russia’s partnership with continent-wide organization were considered. 

The parties discussed the problems of ensuring peace and security in Africa, including in the Great Lakes region.

A special focus was given to the preparations of the third Russia-Africa Summit scheduled for October 2026 in Moscow. The parties agreed on close cooperation in conducting the summit.

The visit was held in a warm and trusting environment.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at the joint news conference following talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration, and Development Cooperation of Burundi Édouard Bizimana

Bujumbura, July 10, 2026.

Photo: MFA

Ladies and gentlemen,

To begin with, I would like to thank the leadership of Burundi for the warm reception our delegation received, their hospitality, and the substantive negotiations.

Just now, as my colleague and friend, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation Édouard Bizimana said, we had a productive meeting with President of the Republic Évariste Ndayishimiye, where we had an overall review of our partnership. It started a long time ago and already has a strong tradition. This is a good foundation for deepening our cooperation in all areas.

Today we looked at our agenda in view of the tasks discussed at the previous meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Burundi at the second Russia–Africa Summit in St Petersburg in 2023. After the review, we agreed on specific steps to be taken to advance in all areas.

We have agreed to give special attention to the expansion and deepening of trade, economic and investment ties. We discussed a number of specific projects that Russian companies are ready to implement in Burundi, primarily in hydropower and nuclear energy.

Work is already underway on nuclear energy. The personnel are being trained. Our friends are interested in small modular nuclear power plants. Rosatom State Corporation has already signed an essential document with its colleagues which formed the basis for this cooperation.

We praised the actively developing cooperation in the humanitarian sphere in recent years, especially in healthcare and in combating dangerous infections. Our specialists work in Burundi. There is a joint center here, which, I am convinced, will contribute to ensuring the epidemiological safety of Burundi and also of other countries in the region.

We also noted the cooperation carried out through our Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief. An appropriate disaster prevention and response center is being set up in Burundi. This will also contribute to strengthening our partnership.

We noted a growing interest in educational exchanges. At the request of our friends, we are ready to increase the number of scholarships awarded annually to Burundi.

During the negotiations at the foreign ministers’ level, we continued the conversation that began in December 2025 in Cairo on the sidelines of the second Russia–Africa Ministerial Partnership Forum. We have agreed to continue our consultations and negotiations during the upcoming visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation Édouard Bizimana to Moscow. I hope he will find a convenient time slot. We must definitely maintain periodic contacts.

On international issues, we have overlapping positions on most fundamental issues. We stand for the world becoming multipolar and democratic, and for all countries strictly following the principles of the UN Charter not selectively, but in their entirety and interrelation including, above all, the sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs. With that in mind, we stressed the importance of taking into account Africa’s concerns while reforming the UN Security Council. Africa has a consolidated position on the issue, which is stated in certain documents, and we respect and support that position.

We believe it is essential that the historical injustice against African countries be eliminated and more effective representation of Africans in the UN Security Council be ensured, along with representatives from other regions of the Global South – Asia and Latin America. This is our position. We firmly believe that the Western group of states cannot apply for additional seats on the UN Security Council. It already has significant overrepresentation in this body in every respect.

We are grateful to our Burundian friends for their support of Russian priorities and initiatives at the United Nations. For our part, we always support the position of Burundi in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly and other bodies. We agreed to continue this close coordination within the UN framework.

In view of Burundi’s current presidency of the African Union, we discussed prospects for cooperation with this pan-African organisation. We welcomed the resumption of regular consultations between Russia and the leadership of the African Union Commission. We are set to continue this practice.

Speaking of Africa, special focus was given to topics related to conflicts and crises on the continent, primarily taking into account the proximity of Burundi in the east to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and its location in the Great Lakes region.

We share an opinion that crisis situations on the continent should be solved according to the principle of African Solutions to African Problems. This was clearly confirmed today by the President of the Republic of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye. We fully share this position. We believe that external attempts to impose some kind of “prescripts” only exacerbate the situations, and not resolve those crisis situations.

We are seeing instances of gross external interference in African affairs, including in the situation where the legitimate Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the support of Burundi, is overcoming an aggression carried out against it by the M23 movement supported by foreign representatives, including Ukrainians. We know it, and so do our friends.

Basically, Ukrainians are trying to side with forces, which oppose legitimate governments in too many conflicts on the African continent, just to establish themselves as a “political factor” in the region. And the main thing for them is to create trouble for countries, which are friendly to Russia.

We discussed the Ukrainian issue. I informed our friend about the latest developments. I confirmed the policy that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated. It was formulated in his speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in June 2024. We adhere to this policy. We are grateful to Burundi for comprehending the root causes of this situation and for the position that the republic takes at the United Nations, voting against provocative resolutions promoted by the Western “masters” of Ukraine and the Kiev regime itself.

We talked about the preparation of the third Russia–Africa Summit, including in view of Burundi’s presidency in the African Union. The documents that are being prepared for this forum are primarily devoted to expanding and deepening our ties with African friends in the economy, investment, high technology, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, agriculture, nuclear energy, and a number of other topics.

When drawing up the summit agenda, we were guided by the doctrinal documents of the African Union, including the Agenda 2063, for the summit to be as useful as possible in achieving the goals set by the Africans themselves.

Next year, we have an important date. Our diplomatic relations will mark the 55th anniversary. We will try to prepare a good programme to appropriately celebrate this date.

Question (retranslated from French): What specific projects does Russia plan to fund or support in Burundi in the coming years so as to facilitate the implementation of the country’s development strategy, Vision 2040-2060? What steps is your country taking to promote the development of education and training of national personnel in Burundi?

Sergey Lavrov: Regarding the projects that we discussed today – as I said in my opening remarks – these are primarily the hydropower projects we have proposed. The RusHydro competencies are considered to be the best in the world.

This also includes nuclear energy – low-power nuclear power plants many are interested in, including our Burundian friends. They have signed a corresponding memorandum with Rosatom State Corporation. Burundians are already being trained at relevant universities in Russia, and personnel are being trained for the future industry of peaceful nuclear energy in Burundi.

As for education, we have heard many good words today for the services that Russia provides in civilian and military professions (the Burundian friends also need them). Representatives of your country also study at educational institutions under the Emergencies Ministry of Russia.

I have reaffirmed that we continue the practice. We are ready to increase the number of scholarship if our friends are in interested in that.

Question (retranslated from French): What measures are needed to strengthen exchanges between Russia and Burundi? What goods are imported from Burundi to Russia? What message would you like to convey to the Burundian youth who want to strengthen their ties with Russia in academic, scientific and cultural areas?

Sergey Lavrov: We have big plans, capabilities and readiness to expand cooperation in education.

I would advise young people to contact the government agencies in Burundi that distribute scholarships from the Russian Federation. We will always be happy to see them in our country. But besides educational processes and training, there are also person-to-person contacts between young people.

In September, Yekaterinburg will host the next World Youth Festival to which everyone is invited. We will be happy to see a delegation of Burundian young people.

Question: A joint research center on infectious diseases has been established as part of Russian-Burundian cooperation, and Russia has transferred a mobile laboratory to Burundi to combat epidemics. How vital is this interaction, in your opinion, for ensuring the biological security not only of Burundi, but also of the entire Central African region? Do you plan to expand it?

Sergey Lavrov: Regarding the Ebola virus: there is now an outbreak of a new strain of this virus, including in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. As Mr Minister has already said, our representatives came here and promptly carried out work on the spot, found the test systems that are fit for detecting this particular virus, and are ready, as the Russian Minister of Health reported, including to WHO, to produce a vaccine against this new strain in serial amounts. This requires biomaterials, and we have asked our Burundian friends to provide such biomaterials. As soon as this happens, industrial production of a vaccine specifically for this strain, widespread in the region, will be launched.

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