Mr Minister,

Friends,

Colleagues,

Thank you for accepting our invitation to visit Sochi to attend the first Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.  

The decision to hold this conference was made on the sidelines of last year’s  Russia-Africa summit held in St Petersburg. We are starting our new tradition now.

I hope that we will be able to report to our leaders on the positive results of our talks that will take place tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and to obtain their endorsements of the recommendations that we make. I think that the draft documents have already been agreed.

I am delighted to see you. We will have the opportunity to exchange views on the bilateral agenda and on our cooperation on other tracks on the sidelines of this conference.