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The two leaders discussed the implementation of bilateral agreements and the future of Russian-Central African cooperation in politics, trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation, as well as current international and regional issues.

On the Russian side, the talks were attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Central African Republic Alexander Bikantov, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia Andrei Averyanov.

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Beginning of the Russian-Central African talks in the expanded format

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

I am delighted to welcome you to Moscow.

This year, we will mark the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. At the beginning of our meeting, I would like to thank you for your personal attention to the development of our interstate ties. You attended both Russia-Africa summits in 2019 and 2023.

I believe that all the events we have planned together with our African colleagues in the sphere of Russia’s interaction with the African continent as a whole will continue to develop with our support.

I am also grateful to you for attending the first Forum of Supporters of the Struggle Against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism in Moscow. I know that you have a busy agenda during this visit as well, and that you have already started implementing it.

We are strengthening the legal framework of our interaction. Several documents have already been signed between our ministries and agencies, and several other documents, which are to be signed during this visit, will create a solid legal basis for our cooperation.

As for trade and economic ties, the figures are not large so far, but I would like to mention a positive trend: our trade has increased nearly eight-fold over the past year. It is a good result.

If necessary, we are ready to continue providing humanitarian aid, just as we are doing now, as you know. This mostly concerns food supplies, primarily wheat. We are ready to continue our cooperation in this sphere.

I would like to mention our cooperation in security. We are committed to continuing our activities in this sphere. We will talk about our future cooperation in the expanded format, and later also during our one-on-one meeting.

Of course, we also attach great importance to our cooperation on the international stage, in particular, at the UN.

Mr President, we are delighted to see you. Welcome to Moscow.

President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera (retranslated): Mr President, friends.

Thank you for your kind invitation, which offers an excellent opportunity to reaffirm our productive cooperation with the Russian Federation, your remarkable and great nation, and the people of the Central African Republic.

I extend my gratitude to you, the Government, and the people of the Russian Federation for the warm welcome shown to my delegation and me, as well as for providing us with the opportunity to make this visit.

I would also like to express my gratitude to your Ambassador, his team, and the Russian instructors who assist us daily in strengthening bilateral cooperation between our countries. The benefits of this cooperation are highly significant for our people.

Thank you as well for taking the time to meet with us today despite your very busy schedule. It is a great honour for us to make this visit. This official visit serves as further evidence of the genuine cooperation, sincere friendship, and resilience of our pragmatic partnership. It has become a model for all of Africa and a source of inspiration for many countries across the continent and the world.

I would like to take this opportunity to convey, on behalf of our Government and our people, our heartfelt wishes for prosperity, peace, and success in all your endeavours to your Government and your people.

Mr President, friends, members of the Russian Government.

I would like to use this official visit to once again express my heartfelt gratitude, as well as that of the people of the Central African Republic, for your assistance, which helped prevent a new civil war in our country during 2020–2021. I sincerely thank you for the grain and fuel supplies that were delivered to Bangui.

The Russian Federation supported the lifting of the arms embargo and restrictions on diamond exports, which had hindered the Central African Republic from fully exercising its sovereignty.

On behalf of our people, I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you, Mr President, and to the Russian Federation for your steadfast support, which not only helped restore stability to our country but also enabled us to secure a strong position among sovereign states.

During this visit, I would like to discuss issues which we regard as a priority and pay much attention to, namely, cooperation in security, economy, agriculture, mining, geological exploration, energy and livestock breeding.

We have reached considerable progress in the sphere of security, with a focus on restoring peace and stability throughout our country. Our army, which has been trained by Russian instructors, is capable of repelling terrorists and anyone else who might infringe on the territory of the Central African Republic.

We will continue to work together to strengthen security throughout the country, on the border and everywhere else the threat might come from. Russian instructors are really good professionals.

I would like to mention progress in several spheres where we would like to boost our cooperation. We have intensified the training of our military personnel. There have also been deliveries of military equipment.

As for the economy, we are ready to promote our cooperation in agriculture, mining and geological exploration. Speaking about agriculture, the Central African Republic has great potential. We have a large territory of over 15 million hectares.

We would like to improve this sector, but we do not have the necessary specialists and equipment for this. We encourage investors from the Russian Federation to invest more in the agriculture and livestock production projects, which would help diversify Russia’s imports of cotton and peanuts.

It would be great if the Russian Federation could supply us with machines and equipment, as well as technologies to help us improve our agriculture, in particular, cotton and sugar production. We would also be delighted if you provided special equipment which we need to improve our agriculture.

As for mining and geological exploration, the Central African Republic is rich in natural resources, which are still waiting to be produced. Our agriculture ministers have signed a special protocol to add dynamics to our relations.

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