Political consultations between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf

Photo: MFA

Press release on political consultations between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.

On July 7, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held political consultations with African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf in Addis Ababa.

The officials conducted a detailed exchange of opinions regarding the current state of relations between Russia and the pan-African organisation and their development prospects. They devoted considerable attention to promoting diverse cooperation in the field of security, the economy, finance, industry and trade, education, energy, nature management, agriculture, healthcare and the peaceful exploration of outer space.

The parties noted the similarity of their approaches towards an overwhelming majority of issues of regional and international agendas. They emphasised the need for close Russian-African coordination for deblocking crisis situations in accordance with the principle of “African solutions for African problems.”

Sergey Lavrov expressed Moscow’s invariable commitment to continue assisting the African Union’s striving to forge an effective security system on the continent and to help African countries attain complete economic, financial, technological and energy sovereignty.

The parties reaffirmed an agreement on holding regular political consultations in the interests of forging a long-term system of cooperation between Russia and the African Union. Following their fruitful discussion, they passed a Joint Statement directing both sides to expand ties in all spheres still further.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during expanded-format talks with Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Mr Youssouf, my dear friend,

We are very pleased to see you assume the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission bringing with you your vast experience as Foreign Minister of your home country, Djibouti.

You held this post for 20 years, and we met many times during that period to discuss bilateral issues and African affairs, including as part of the African Union, its relations with the Russian Federation, and many other things that are now directly within your mandate. We look forward to further expanding our steadily advancing ties with the African Union across all areas.

The current situation is special - we have just touched upon this topic in our one-on-one meeting - because it is, without exaggeration, a turning point in history. As the world’s richest continent, Africa is experiencing a second awakening. In the 1960s, when the decolonisation began with our country - the Soviet Union at the time - playing the most active role in this process, political independence was of primary importance.

Political independence was achieved in the overwhelming majority of cases. What are, at their core, colonial possessions, remain intact on the African continent, though, despite numerous UN General Assembly resolutions calling for the full completion of the decolonisation process.

Nevertheless, decolonisation has effectively taken place, whereas the issue of economic decolonisation has not yet taken central stage at the UN. The unimaginably rich African continent with its unparalleled natural resources continues to supply these resources (although now in different, no longer outright colonial forms) to those who receive the bulk of the added value.

I remember being shown your speech at the latest African Union summit in February. You raised these issues and spoke about the need, following political independence, to achieve economic, energy, and financial sovereignty. We will always stand as allies of the African Union in this endeavour. We fully welcome the processes that are now inevitably beginning to take shape in a natural way.

Russia and Africa are natural supporters of the objective historical trend towards building a multipolar world. Africa is a leading centre of this multipolar structure.

We fully support what you said at the beginning of our conversation about the significant increase in Africa’s role in the global decision-making system, including African representation at the UN Security Council, which must be reformed by expanding the participation of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Western countries and their allies already hold a disproportionate number of seats on the Security Council, so there may be no question of giving them more seats.

Our firm commitment to expanding multifaceted cooperation with Africa is a long-term strategic choice, which we discussed at the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019 and at the second summit in St Petersburg in 2023. The third Russia-Africa Summit, which will take place in Moscow in late October, will consolidate this trend.

Our diplomatic presence on the continent, which we are expanding, is a vivid illustration of Russia’s interest in growing our partnership. Last year, we opened embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. Over the next one or two years, we will open diplomatic missions in The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Comoros.

We also advocate approaching Russia-Africa relations more systematically. In addition to bilateral ties, we are interested in significantly stepping up interaction with integration associations, primarily the African Union, and with regional economic communities pursuing the goal of integration.

For this purpose, a new department - Department for Partnership with Africa - was recently created at the Ministry which expanded our diplomatic capabilities. I am confident that this will have a positive effect on our joint work.

We look forward to you personally representing the African Union Commission at the third summit. The summit’s agenda will focus on urgent matters of Russia-African Union cooperation in practical areas, but we will, of course, also discuss pressing regional and international political issues.

I hope that you will share your wishes regarding the agenda of the third Russia-Africa summit during our conversation today, so that the African position is clearly reflected in the final documents.

Joint Statement African Union–Russian Federation high-level consultation, Addis-Ababa, 7 July 2026

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