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The discussion focused on the further development of bilateral ties in various spheres, as well as current international and regional issues.

Before the meeting, Vladimir Putin and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo addressed the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

I am delighted to welcome you all to Moscow once again. We are very happy to see you.

We have just taken part in the Russian Energy Week, which is held regularly and, as I mentioned in my address, has long become a salient part of the global energy agenda. This forum brings together many colleagues from all over the world who work in the energy sector and are our partners or may become our partners soon.

Your country is our partner in the OPEC, and we have been successfully cooperating with Equatorial Guinea in the OPEC Plus format for a long time. Our common goal is to stabilise global energy markets. Overall, we have been addressing this task rather effectively, jointly with our partners in these organisations.

As concerns our bilateral relations, the re-establishment of our respective diplomatic missions will certainly be instrumental in their development. I hope that the missions will operate in full force. We established diplomatic relations a long time ago, and they have a good, long history.

We certainly have very good potential for developing our bilateral economic ties. We are collaborating in the humanitarian sphere, including in the training of national professionals for your country. We are ready to continue this effort. There are also good prospects in the field of military-technical cooperation.

Mr President, I am happy to see you. At the beginning of our conversation, I would like to thank you for dedicating so much personal time over many years to the development of our interstate relations.

Mr President, welcome to Russia.

President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (retranslated): First of all, I would like to extend our people’s fraternal greetings to President of Russia Vladimir Putin and thank him for the warm and hospitable welcome.

I would also like to express my gratitude for inviting us to attend this forum, which is a highly respected event. This morning, we attended a plenary session of the State Duma, which was another instructive event for Equatorial Guinea. I would like to convey best regards from our Government and people to the Government and people of the Russian Federation. At the same time, I would like to thank you for the wonderful organisation of this forum. It is a very important event for the development of the energy sector.

It is an extremely important sector for Africa, but there is much to strive for, and there is a great deal we can do to develop this sector. We have no mobile coverage to speak of, and our energy network is insufficient for our people.

Friendly countries should maintain and expand energy cooperation. We hope that Russian businesses will come to Equatorial Guinea and contribute to the development of the economic sectors in which they would like to work. We invite them and look forward to more active cooperation.

I would like to express my gratitude to my friend, Vladimir Putin, for sending instructors to help strengthen our national security and defence capability, which is vital for our country, considering the challenges we are facing. However, we have survived and are living thanks to support from our society. Our society has welcomed the arrival of Russian experts. The training our citizens will receive from them will help us strengthen our national defences.

Equatorial Guinea is virtually the only country in the region that does not have such problems as armed groups, but we are suffering from the consequences of piracy. Russia’s presence is of great importance to us in this regard.

I also see that our economic ties and trade relations are good and that they are growing stronger. We hope that Russia will be able to open a bank in Equatorial Guinea, which would simplify commercial transactions.

We would also like Russia to support Equatorial Guinea’s bid to join BRICS, and we hope it will do so.

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