On Monday morning, Lavrov arrived at parliament for talks with Speaker of the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) Moses Wetangula. He also headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya in the past (from 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2012). But Vetangula had never met the Russian minister before.
As the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry reminded, this year our countries are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This date has become an excellent opportunity to deepen cooperation in various fields. According to Mr. Lavrov, the talks with Kenyan President William Ruto and Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua “took place in a friendly atmosphere, allowed frank and confidential exchanges on key issues on the international agenda and to determine other means of developing bilateral cooperation”. “Certainly, we have untapped potential for trade, economic and investment ties,” Lavrov said. According to him, the promising areas are geological exploration, mining, energy, telecommunications, agro-industrial complex, tourism, science and education. The parties agreed to actively help businessmen to establish direct contacts. These issues will be dealt with by the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, the creation of which should be completed by the end of the year.
As Lavrov pointed out, Kenya is interested in new agreements and the development of cooperation with the Russian side, in this regard the second Russia-Africa summit will be of particular importance. “We hope that the decisions that are being prepared – Kenyan friends also pin serious hopes on this – will contribute to the development of practical cooperation and the development of our cooperation in the international arena, where Africa is fully justified in its intentions to become a real, full-fledged center of the emerging multipolar world order,” stressed the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that a step in this direction should be the reform of the UN Security Council , where Western states – the United States and its allies are now over-represented (6 out of 15). This can be corrected by admitting countries from Asia, Latin America and, of course, Africa to the UN Security Council. There was also talk of the need to get out of the abuse of the dollar, to move to settlements in national currencies. And Kenya has expressed that interest. According to Lavrov, such a measure will have a “healing effect on the world economy”. He only regretted that the trade turnover between Russia and Kenya is not as large as we would like, but less than 400 million dollars. “At the moment we are still counting in dollars, so for now, out of habit, but as trade develops, of course, the transition to payments in national currencies will be of practical importance, and that is the future,” the Foreign Office said. noted the Minister.
Although the trade turnover between Russia and Kenya is not as large as we would like, it is less than 400 million dollars
Food security is of particular importance to Kenya. In recent years, the republic, like other countries in the Horn of Africa, has faced a prolonged drought that has affected at least 4.5 million Kenyans. And Russian help here is welcome. Responding to a question from RG, Lavrov said that in the next few days a batch of fertilizer will arrive at the port of Mombasa, which the Russian side has donated to Kenya. We are talking about part of those 300,000 tonnes of fertilizers that were blocked in EU ports a year ago. In the future, several other countries will receive fertilizers, but this process is progressing very slowly. “This is a direct sabotage of tasks in the field of food safety,” Lavrov said. However, Russia has other possibilities to supply agricultural products, bypassing the mechanisms of the Russia-UN memorandum.
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