The Minister of Foreign Affairs is expected Sunday evening in Oyo, stronghold of the Congolese head of state Denis Sassou Nguesso, 400 kilometers north of Brazzaville, for a two-day visit. It’s a visit like no other in this period marked by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The Congo has always presented itself as a neutral country in this conflict.
With our special correspondent in Oyo, Loicia Martial
According to the official program of this visit, the first of its kind on Congolese soil, Sergei Lavrov’s plane will land at Ollombo airport, near Oyo, this Sunday at 8:15 p.m. local time. He will come from Cairo, where the head of Russian diplomacy is beginning his African tour.
At the end of the day, he will be received by his counterpart, Jean-Claude Gakosso. Late Monday morning, face-to-face talks are scheduled with the Congolese president, who has consistently maintained that the Congo is neutral in the conflict between Moscow and kyiv for five months. Brazzaville promotes a peaceful resolution of this dispute and calls on the two parties to dialogue.
In a column in the only daily newspaper in Brazzaville, Sergei Lavrov salutes the place of Africa in the current geopolitical context. ” Today, African states are playing an increasingly important role in politics and the global economy. “, he wrote, adding that they bring “ in a forceful way their contribution to solving the key problems of our time “.
Brazzaville and Moscow have maintained diplomatic relations without interruption since 1964.