Russia to Send Fertilizers to Nigeria for Free — Lavrov

"Last September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that we were ready to deliver 300,000 tons of our fertilizers, illegally seized in EU ports, to African countries free of charge. Fully in line with colonial practices and habits, the EU leadership blocked this initiative," the Russian top diplomat recalled

BUJUMBURA /Burundi/. May 30. /TASS/. Moscow intends to deliver a shipment of Russian fertilizers to Nigeria free of charge in the near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at a press conference following his visit to Burundi.

"Last September, President [Vladimir] Putin announced that we were ready to deliver 300,000 tons of our fertilizers, illegally seized in EU ports, to African countries free of charge. Fully in line with colonial practices and habits, the EU leadership blocked this initiative. It took us 6 months to get at least the first shipment of 20,000 tons to Malawi, and just recently another shipment of a similar amount of fertilizer was delivered to Kenya. The same shipment is scheduled to go to Nigeria soon," he said.

All of this comes at the cost of enormous efforts by the World Food Program and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to "overcome the openly Russophobic position of EU members who oppose any initiatives that in one way or another will help developing countries, if such assistance is provided by the Russian side."

Russian foreign minister Lavrov arrives in Mozambique

The Russian foreign minister’s previous visits to Mozambique took place in 2013 and 2018

MAPUTO /Mozambique/, May 31. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Mozambique’s capital Maputo on Tuesday evening, continuing his African tour, a TASS correspondent reported.

The top Russian diplomat is expected to hold talks with the country’s political leadership.

Earlier, Lavrov visited Kenya and Burundi during his third trip to Africa in 2023.

The Russian foreign minister’s previous visits to Mozambique took place in 2013 and 2018.

After visiting Maputo, Lavrov will depart to Cape Town to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa).

Speaker of Mozambique’s Assembly (parliament) Esperanca Bias visited Moscow in April. She expressed her country’s readiness to strengthen bilateral cooperation, adding that the partnership of Russia and Mozambique was of strategic nature. The country’s President Filipe Nyusi is expected to visit Russia in July to participate in the second Russia-Africa summit.

Russia and Mozambique established diplomatic relations on June 25, 1975 - the day when the country proclaimed independence. The two states have also set up a bilateral intergovernmental commission on economic, technological and scientific cooperation, which had its second session in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg in November 2022. A number of bilateral agreements in various spheres - from defense to humanitarian cooperation have been signed.

During the talks in Maputo, the two delegations are expected to discuss ways to boost bilateral relations and address international issues, including situation in various African countries, cooperation in the United Nations and the situation around Ukraine.

Lavrov arrives in Burundi for visit

The minister is scheduled to hold talks with the African country’s leadership

BUJUMBURA /Burundi/, May 30. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday arrived in the Burundian city of Bujumbura, according to a TASS reporter.

The minister is scheduled to hold talks with the African country’s leadership. Burundi is the second country after Kenya that Lavrov is visiting on his latest African tour.

Burundian Foreign Minister Albert Shingiro visited the Russian city of Sochi in March 2023 where he held talks with Lavrov. The Russian minister said a news conference afterward that the countries were readying a bilateral agreement on peaceful use of atomic energy.

Russia and Burundi cooperate in law enforcement and military-technical areas.