BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Pholile Shakantu is happy to be in a diplomatic relation with Russia.
Minister Shakantu said this during a meeting she had with Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. Shakantu’s meeting with Lavrov was part of the Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, which took place this past weekend (November 9 to 10, 2024) in the city of Sochi in Russia.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the conference is seeking to deepen ties with African nations and dispel a notion that Russia is isolated by Western sanctions. According to Eswatini TV, Shakantu said the relations between Eswatini and Russia started in 1999. According to the minister, the countries have continued to work together to strengthen Eswatini’s education, agriculture, science, and technology.
Shakantu said Eswatini looked forward to more fruitful relations between the two countries, which will also help in tackling challenges that engulf the international community. Shakantu is not alone in the meeting, as she has travelled with Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko.
According to the Modern Diplomacy (moderndiplomacy.eu), the programme architecture released for the first Ministerial Conference would enhance building on the strategic decisions taken both at the first and second Russia–Africa summits and bring together the heads of ministries of foreign affairs of Russia and African countries, the African Union Commission (AUC), as well as the executive bodies of regional integration associations from Africa. The conference is set to continue regularly on the same format.
