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L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

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(May 2009), <strong>and</strong> Ug<strong>and</strong>an President Yoweri Museveni's private<br />

visit to Russia in August were <strong>of</strong> big political significance. Sergey<br />

Lavrov met with the president <strong>of</strong> Somalia, <strong>and</strong> the foreign ministers<br />

<strong>of</strong> the DRC, Nigeria, <strong>and</strong> South <strong>Africa</strong> during the ministerial week<br />

at the 64 th Session <strong>of</strong> the UN General Assembly. 35<br />

Increasingly growing attention was paid to broadening the geographical<br />

reach <strong>of</strong> cooperation between Russian regions <strong>and</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>n<br />

countries in the economic, scientific <strong>and</strong> technical fields. Cooperation<br />

with South <strong>Africa</strong> is most advanced in this respect as it covers<br />

such constituent entities <strong>of</strong> the Russian Federation as Moscow <strong>and</strong><br />

the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, the Kaluga <strong>and</strong> Ulyanovsk Regions,<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Krasnodar Territory. Legal <strong>and</strong> contractual relations<br />

were <strong>of</strong>ficially established between the Moscow Region <strong>and</strong> the<br />

Province <strong>of</strong> Gauteng, <strong>and</strong> between St. Petersburg <strong>and</strong> Cape Town. A<br />

protocol <strong>of</strong> cooperation between St. Petersburg <strong>and</strong> Johannesburg is<br />

being coordinated.<br />

Contacts with the <strong>Africa</strong>n Union (AU) were developed further.<br />

The participation <strong>of</strong> the Russian delegation led by Federation Council<br />

Chairman Sergey Mironov (July) in the summit <strong>of</strong> this pan-<strong>Africa</strong>n<br />

organization in Libya became an important step in this respect.<br />

Contacts developed with the main sub-regional organizations on<br />

the continent: the Southern <strong>Africa</strong>n Development Community<br />

(SADC), the Economic Community <strong>of</strong> the West <strong>Africa</strong>n States<br />

(ECOWAS), <strong>and</strong> the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.<br />

In keeping with the earlier agreements, 13 grants were issued from<br />

the federal budget in 2009 specifically for SADC. The Russian ambassadors<br />

accredited to SADC <strong>and</strong> ECOWAS regularly attended<br />

these organizations' summits <strong>and</strong> other major events.<br />

Active political work continued in the UN, primarily in its Security<br />

Council, on the strengthening <strong>of</strong> peace <strong>and</strong> security in <strong>Africa</strong>.<br />

Specific interaction with non-permanent members <strong>of</strong> the UN Security<br />

Council from the <strong>Africa</strong>n group covered a wide range <strong>of</strong> issues,<br />

including the strengthening <strong>of</strong> the UN role as the central mechanism<br />

<strong>of</strong> collective response to global contemporary challenges. This work<br />

produced positive results, as evidenced by the positive attitude <strong>of</strong> the<br />

<strong>Africa</strong>ns to the Russian initiatives at the UN.<br />

185

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