The head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov paid a visit to Algeria on Tuesday May 10 to strengthen the “partnership” with this ally of Moscow and gas exporter increasingly in demand by a Europe seeking to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra, and was received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. ” We very much appreciate Algeria’s balanced, objective and balanced position on the Ukrainian question. Lavrov said after his talks.
Algeria, a leading gas exporter, supplies around 11% of the gas consumed in Europe, compared to 47% for Russia. Several countries seeking to reduce their dependence on Russian supplies since the invasion of Ukraine have turned to Algeria, which has very limited capacity to increase its exports.
In an apparent concern not to alienate Moscow, Algeria also repeats that its additional export capacities cannot replace Russian gas.
“Russia, Algeria and the other gas-exporting countries, we believe that the agreements already concluded must be respected”, underlined Sergueï Lavrov.
” These two countries have an interest in strengthening their relationship.
For RFI, Kader Abderrahim, lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, and author of the book: “Geopolitics of Algeria” returned to the challenge of this visit which is taking place in a very particular climate, Kader Abderrahim, lecturer conferences at Sciences Po Paris, and author of the book: ” Geopolitics of Algeria “.
” There are several files on the table, explains the researcher. The two countries are obviously not in the same situation. Algeria is in a political stalemate, in great economic difficulty. Russia, for its part, finds itself today totally isolated and ostracized from nations both by the UN, but in general by the Europeans and the United States. So these two countries, Algeria and Russia, have an interest in strengthening their relationship. Russia will remain a global strategic player while Algeria aims to be a regional player. And then, it’s a very old traditional relationship since it was also a question for Russia of celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the friendship treaty between Algeria and Russia, and it’s a timely pretext. named in the context of the war in Ukraine “.
Lavrov’s visit to Algeria, his first since January 2019, coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Algeria.
(With AFP)