Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova. Photo: Sergey Fadeichev/TASS
“We have many lions in diplomacy”
…- Maria Vladimirovna, what kind of photo is this, where you are with the lion cub Ruslan. Where did the lion cub in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs come from? Does this have anything to do with the opening of the second Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg?
– It seems to me that we have many lions in diplomacy. (laughs)
This is a coincidence. The fact is that Edward Zapashny was supposed to come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I jokingly asked him, “Will you come with a tiger?” because in all the photos he is always with his pupils.
It turned out that Edgard took everything more than seriously, and it was a big surprise to us when he came with a little lion cub.
Such a coincidence, but perhaps it is symbolic. Because you just caught me on my way to St. Petersburg for the Russia-Africa summit. The event is very important. Your content will be really rich.
Photo: t.me/goncharovVladislav_ru
– Didn’t you take Ruslan the lion cub to the minister?
– Honestly, not (laughs). But Ruslan has already tried to give us a master class: how to threaten, stand on your paws and growl menacingly. Although he is only two months old, he is already doing it professionally.
– I found someone to teach.
– I agree, it remains to be seen who taught whom to break. (laughs)
Wrong question on the way to Russia-Africa summit
After the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi in 2019, we cancelled $20 billion in debts to Africa. Were they still Soviet debts? And then we lost or not? Or is the question wrong?
– Incorrect – from the point of view of calculations. It is impossible to separate the Soviet and Russian periods of cooperation with African countries. I would like to draw your attention to the meeting with Mr. Ozerov, Ambassador on Special Mission of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that the Soviet Union had done much not only to liberate the countries of Africa and Asia from colonial oppression. But it also provided economic support to the young governments of these countries. I helped them literally from scratch, to create their own economy.
And – build educational systems, health care, to achieve the return of natural, cultural wealth and lost values.
And Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union, adheres to this line.
You see, you need to look deeper, wider and see the perspective.
And the level of support that we now have from African states (and these are states with a large population, with very good rates of development, with enormous potential, a resource base).
All this is not built opportunistically, not in a day. This is Africa’s response to what the Soviet Union and Russia have done for their countries.
Summit portfolio includes 5 ready-to-sign documents
– What is planned at the summit?
– The central idea of this meeting is to contribute to the strengthening of the sovereignty of African States and security. In all dimensions.
It is planned to adopt 5 documents.
This is a general political statement.
Joint Action Plan for 2023-2026.
And three sectoral instruments on counter-terrorism, non-deployment of weapons in outer space and international information security.
It is also planned to sign bilateral documents.
Each department (we are talking about the government of the Russian Federation. – A.G.) is now preparing these agreements in its own line.
And we expect there to be a very strong package of agreements in completely different areas. Let this happen, and then we’ll go through the whole list of agreements.
Photo: t.me/goncharovVladislav_ru
What else does Africa expect from Russia?
– Special correspondent “KP” Dina Karpitskaya recently visited Africa, and was told that they expect fertilizer, road construction, bridges, hydrocarbon production technology and IT technologies from Russia. What can we give quickly and a lot?
– In general, it is already possible to summarize the results of the first summit of 2019, which led to our interaction with individual countries and with the continent as a whole at completely new borders.
The intensity of political contacts has increased. And, of course, the growth of trade, which is facilitated by the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
We are interested in stepping up efforts in high-tech areas, such as nuclear energy, space exploration and the introduction of digital technologies. Both we and Africa have enormous potential in this regard.
On grain and hunger
– For fertilizers and grains, what could be the turn at this summit?
– First, you need to understand that the issue was heated up a year ago by the West without regard for realities, only as part of its PR campaign. After all, the problem of hunger and countries in need in Africa was, is and, unfortunately, will continue to be. This is a deep problem, it needs to be solved by collective efforts, and not by these PR campaigns.
Second, this Western PR campaign was not designed at all for the supply of fertilizer and food to the poorest and neediest countries. And today I have seen the comments of the representatives of the African countries, who began to reproach those behind this campaign, that during the past year, the really hungry countries received not only half, but 3% of the supplies that there were.
That’s what we need to talk about. The West, to solve its purely commercial ideas, uses the issue of hunger for propaganda purposes. This is just a kind of hypocrisy on the verge, frankly, even sadism. For a whole year to promote the issue of food security, and then, it turns out, fill their pockets and cheeks to such an extent that they managed to ruin their own farmers. Because Western countries are oversupplied with this grain nowhere else. And the needy received virtually nothing at all. Despite the fact that Russia prepared supplies even for free, for humanitarian purposes, the West did not allow this to be done. Much, by the way, was blocked by the Baltic states.
The Russia-Africa summit will begin on July 27. Photo: russia-africa2023.tass.photo
Our policy on the continent is not limited to the principle of Hucksterism.
– So we will supply grains and fertilizers for free. Is it necessary to work at a loss? Or is the profit here purely political?
– You know, this isn’t the wrong question…
-Harmful.
– It is not harmful. This is a question asked by many who are not very immersed in the subject. So thank you for that.
You understand that hunger is not just the subject of a single press release: written, read and forgotten. These are living people who are really starving. These are children who grow up not only in poverty, but in conditions of severe hunger. This problem is dealt with by the UN. And as many as they can. It’s just that someone does it sincerely and realistically, and someone in words and with double bottom. We take this seriously.
As for the benefits… When discussing issues of humanitarian aid and charity, profit is worthwhile as task number one. Dispute…
You know, it’s not “you for me, I for you.” Now the African continent has said a decisive “no” to pressure from the West, which sought to brand Africa as its anti-Russian allies. After all, they do, not just remembering aid from the Soviet Union. They see the essence of our policy, which is never reduced to deception. We are in favour of equality and mutual benefit, but not negotiation. Moreover, this, as the West demonstrates, has a double floor and a single door.
Just one concrete example. The situation in the Horn of Africa and the Sahara-Sahel region is particularly difficult. I still have to say this. Surely there are those who, perhaps, for the first time hear about this problem. This is due to climate change and the displacement of masses of people as a result of conflict. Many of these conflicts are provoked from abroad or in the course of colonialism. The eradication of hunger is one of Africa’s major challenges. And it will be discussed at the summit.
Before the start of the summit, the first meetings had already taken place. Photo: russia-africa2023.tass.photo
Seychelles, South Africa, Egypt… To be continued!
There are only 60,000 Russians in Africa (mostly women married to Africans), 35,000 of them in Egypt, 6,000 in South Africa and 3,000 in Morocco. But the Chinese in the country of Zimbabwe only 20 years ago were 20 thousand, now there are already 80 thousand. Isn’t it time we explored Africa so broadly? And accept more students from there.
You compare with China, and I remind you that there are more than a billion Chinese.
Education, of course, is one of the most interesting topics of our cooperation. And everyone who visits Africa knows that the Russian language is used there. There are countries where, literally, at every step you can hear Russian speech, starting from the airport. And what is language? This is the development of entire industries and the entry of countries to a whole new level in various areas.
Development, including tourism. When people know our country, they know how to attract tourists. And the African continent is becoming increasingly popular with our tourists.
As for our compatriots, he is also absolutely right, our humanitarian presence there is necessary.
This year, the first congress of Russophils was held in Moscow. A large number of people were only from Africa.
Love, they know us, they are waiting for us, they call us a lot and they expect a lot.
They understand that in the current dramatic events, Russia defends not only itself, but also justice and truth for the whole world.
