By Frank Kamuntu
President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday arrived in the Russian port city of Saint Petersburg to attend the Second Russia-African summit that will run from the 27th-28th of July 2023.
The President arrived at Pulkovo International Airport in the city of Saint Petersburg and was received by the Russian Federation Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Bogdan Mikhail Lleonidovich and many other senior government officials from the Russian federation.
The Russia-Africa summit will be attended by heads of states and governments from Africa as well as representatives of vast majority of the African countries and majority of the socio-economic and political players on the continent.
During his stay in Russia President Museveni will hold bilateral discussions with his counterpart President Vladimir Putin on matters of mutual interest between Uganda and the Russian federation.
President Museveni accompanied to Russia by a high-powered delegation that include ministers, members of parliament as well as several senior government officials.
Putin has billed the two-day summit as a major event that would help bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage.
“Today, Africa is asserting itself more and more confidently as one of the poles of the emerging multipolar world,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin. “The forum will provide a further boost to our political and humanitarian partnership for many years to come. It will serve as a crucial event for Russian-African relations, making them even more comprehensive and far-reaching.”
On Wednesday, Putin held one-on-one talks with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and said Russia will more than triple the number of Ethiopian students it hosts and cover their education costs.
