Cynthia Thanda

During an interview with RT in Durban on 16 August 2026, His Excellency Advocate Duma Gideon Boko, President of the Republic of Botswana, announced a significant step towards strengthening diplomatic relations between Botswana and Russia.

As Botswana redefines its economic and foreign policy agenda and seeks to forge deeper relations with global partners, including Russia, President Boko confirmed that Botswana has expressed interest in opening a physical embassy in Russia.

The proposed embassy would represent more than a new diplomatic address. It would signal a deeper commitment to strengthening relations between the two countries and provide a more permanent foundation for cooperation.

Of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Russia is the only country in which Botswana does not currently have a physical diplomatic mission. President Boko described this as an anomaly that needed to be corrected.

President Boko explained that over the years, many Botswana professionals and young people have received training in Russia. However, they have had to rely on consular assistance from Sweden.

“And if you look at Russia, as I said, one of the P5 countries and as big an economy as it has, there had to be some correction of that absence. And so now we will be there. We trust that there’s a lot that we will be able to accelerate in terms of our relations with Russia,” he highlighted.

President Boko said Botswana is seeking a pragmatic relationship with Russia, particularly as both countries are major players in the global diamond industry. Despite Western sanctions against Russia creating complications within the global economy, Botswana views the international economy as interconnected and intends to maintain its relationship with Moscow.

The relationship is also expected to support efforts around the authentication and provenance of diamonds and strengthen the implementation of the Kimberley Process, an international initiative aimed at preventing the trade in conflict diamonds. He added that Russia has maintained an embassy in Botswana for many years and that the two countries have enjoyed strong and cordial relations.

“The expertise in many areas, we are both mining, diamond mining countries. We need much more close collaboration in that space for us to ensure that the diamond space is properly regulated. And so we have to be there. So we felt that we needed to now establish a physical presence in Russia. They have had an embassy now in our country for many years. And we’ve enjoyed very strong, cordial relations with Russia,” said President Boko.

Beyond diamonds, President Boko highlighted Russia’s knowledge, expertise and technological capabilities as areas from which Botswana could benefit. With growing global demand for rare-earth minerals, he said Botswana needs to take a more active role in exploring its mineral potential and building partnerships with countries such as Russia.

“There’s a large swathe of our country that is unexplored. And so we need these collaborations to explore the rest of the country. About 70 percent, which remains largely unexplored. And in this day and age where there’s an urgent need by the world economy for rare earth minerals, we need to take an active role and collaborate especially with Russia,” said President Boko.

President Boko also identified other potential areas of cooperation between Botswana and Russia, including knowledge exchange on climate resilience, resource management and agro-processing.

The proposed diplomatic presence in Russia could therefore provide Botswana with a platform to expand engagement beyond traditional diplomatic relations and into economic, technological and technical cooperation.

For Botswana, strengthening ties with Russia reflects a broader effort to diversify its international partnerships while pursuing opportunities in strategic sectors such as mining, diamonds, technology and natural resources.