By TesfaNews,
Eritrea and Russia today signed the first in the history of bilateral relations a protocol of consultations between the foreign ministries of both countries to further deepen the existing political, trade and economic interaction, a statement released by Russian foreign ministry disclosed.
The cooperation agreement they signed today in Moscow will spur bilateral cooperation by enhancing trade, investment, educational and cultural links.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia and Eritrea should look for specific ways of working together in trade and the economy.
“We appreciate our regular contacts and we are interested in intensifying them,” he said. “I am sure that we should turn our political dialogue into searching for specific spheres of interaction, first of all, in trade and the economy.”
Signs of growing Russian interest on the East African state emerge when it successfully defend and help water down two U.S. engineered crippling UN sanctions against Eritrea.
During their discussion on regional and international agendas, the two foreign ministers agreed to work closely in the UN and other international markets where Lavrov said “our positions are similar or coincide”.
Russia’s main focus on return was to develop and secure favorable trade and economic conditions for Russian businesses that already shows growing interest on the implementation of a number of investment projects in the country specially on Eritrea’s burgeoning mining and natural resource projects.
Osman Slaeh called it “a good opportunity to develop partnership”.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that they have discussed regional problems that affect the peace and stabilization of the African continent.
Lavrov said African problems should be solved by Africans themselves and on the basis of balance of interests, international law and support from the international community.
“We have held useful talks, considering the key issues of the international and regional agenda,” Lavrov said. “We have agreed on the supremacy of international law, the central role of the United Nations and the importance of cooperation in addressing global threats and challenges to security.”
“We give special attention to the situation in different African regions, to the south of the Sahara and in the Horn of Africa, including the situation in Somalia, between Sudan and South Sudan and in the African Great Lakes region, alongside relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea,” Lavrov said.
“We would like to help normalise these relations as well as other critical points on the African continent,” he added.
Press Conference of Foreign Ministers of Eritrea and Russia. See translation below in the comment section.
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