On May 31,  Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had talks with Zambian Foreign Minister Harry Kalaba who is in Moscow on a working visit.

During the talks, the officials discussed a range of issues related to further advancing the traditionally friendly relations between Russia and Zambia. They expressed the shared determination of Moscow and Lusaka to develop bilateral relations in the political, economic, humanitarian and other fields. They noted Russian companies’ interest in building an investment partnership with Zambian economic operators. They also stressed their mutual interest in continuous cooperation in nuclear power engineering.

Mr Kalaba expressed his gratitude to Russia for its significant contribution to training skilled personnel for Zambia, which also includes the awarding of grants through the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation.

The ministers noted with satisfaction the trust-based nature of the political dialogue between Russia and Zambia. Both diplomats expressed their intention to continue mutual support and the alignment of policies at various political venues on the basis of similar approaches towards topical issues in global and regional politics. They expressed their shared view on the need to consolidate the global community’s efforts, under the coordinating role of the UN, in the fight against terrorism, the drug threat and other contemporary challenges.

The ministers exchanged views on supporting peace and security in Africa, including the task of achieving durable settlements in the African Great Lakes Region, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Sahara-Sahel zone. At the same time they specified the direction of future joint efforts to expand Russia’s partnership with African regional unions, primarily the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).