Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin spoke to TASS News Agency ahead of the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum that was held in Cairo, Egypt from December 19 to 20, 2025.

TNA: What can you say regarding the humanitarian aspect of our collaboration with the African continent? Which Russian priorities can be highlighted in this regard?

Sergey Vershinin: Cooperation in the field of education has traditionally been one of the cornerstones of our engagement in Africa. A substantial foundation was laid during the Soviet era, when tens of thousands of Africans, after studying in our country, actively contributed to the establishment of statehood and the development of national economies in young African nations. Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of interest across the continent in obtaining high-quality, competitive Russian education and learning the Russian language.

The Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan 2023˗2026, adopted following the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit, accords priority to the training of highly qualified professionals from African countries. We are confident that, upon returning to their home countries, these individuals will play a pivotal role in securing their nations’ economic and technological sovereignty.

At present, over 32,000 students from African states are pursuing education in Russian higher education institutions across all forms of study. The most sought-after disciplines include medicine, engineering, agriculture, and animal husbandry, as well as humanities, IT, and artificial intelligence.

Opportunities to learn the Russian language and to engage with our culture are expanding. Open education centres for the Russian language and culture are operating successfully in 27 African countries.

We are intensifying collaboration in critical areas such as healthcare, epidemic control, and emergency response. Africa has an acute need for Russia’s assistance in training medical specialists, providing scientific and methodological support, conducting joint research on dangerous infections and developing laboratory infrastructure.

On April 17˗19, 2024, the first Russia-Africa International Conference on Combating Infectious Diseases convened in Kampala, Uganda, bringing together over 150 representatives from 16 countries. Discussions are underway regarding the timing and venue for the second Conference in 2026. In April 2025, the 1st Russian-African Exercises of Rapid Response Teams for Emergency Situations of Sanitary-Epidemiological Nature took place in Addis Ababa. Joint infection research centres are operating successfully in Guinea and Burundi. Over 200 African specialists have been trained using Russian methodologies, and collaborative research has been conducted on more than 50 dangerous infections.

We are expanding a network of mobile anti-epidemic laboratories of Russian production across Africa. Sixteen laboratories are already operational, with an additional four to be delivered by the end of 2025. In 2024, Russian diagnostic test systems for monkeypox were supplied to African partners, followed by systems for Ebola haemorrhagic fever in 2025. In 2025, assistance was provided to Zimbabwe and the Republic of the Congo in combating cholera, and to Uganda in addressing an Ebola outbreak.

TNA: The voice of solidarity of African countries is louder than ever before, and their ties with other centres of global politics are expanding and strengthening. It is well known that the African Union plays a key role in integration processes on the continent. How are our relations with this pan-African organisation progressing?

Sergey Vershinin: Historically, Russia’s engagement with the African Union has its roots in the period of decolonisation. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in dismantling the colonial system, assisting newly independent African states in building the foundations of statehood, growing their national economies, and training qualified personnel.

Today, Africa is emerging as a leading force in global politics and becoming a full-fledged participant in the new polycentric world system taking shape before our eyes. The African Union serves as the key coordinating centre for this process, which involves shaping an African security architecture, deepening political and socioeconomic cooperation, and enhancing the continent’s role in international affairs. Building a mutually beneficial partnership with Africa is a foreign policy priority for Russia.

This ensures the depth and breadth of our engagement with the continent, complementing and enriching our bilateral ties with individual African states.

The structural changes within the Russian Foreign Ministry are also aligned with these goals, including the establishment of a dedicated Department for Partnership with Africa in early 2025.

Our cooperation with the African Union is expanding, guided by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Foundation for Relations and Cooperation signed in Sochi in 2019 and the Russia-African Union Action Plan for 2023˗2026 adopted in St Petersburg in 2023.

We maintain a regular dialogue with African Union representatives on a wide range of bilateral, international, and regional issues. Such contacts with the leadership of the African Union Commission took place on the sidelines of the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and the regular session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Our partnership is also deepening in knowledge-intensive fields, including the peaceful use of outer space – through cooperation between Roscosmos and the recently established African Space Agency – and the application of nuclear technology to drive the technological and economic development of African nations.

TNA: Various multilateral cooperation formats are being actively developed in Africa. How is Russia building interaction with other African integration associations?

Sergey Vershinin: Russia is giving increasing attention to the development of multifaceted cooperation with Africa’s subregional associations. For example, we have done a great deal this year to expand the legal framework of our relations with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Economic Community of West African States, and the East African Community.

We are discussing action plans with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Southern African Development Community, and the Economic Community of Central African States.

We have held meetings with the heads and representatives of some of the abovementioned organisations, in particular, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

They have shown that there is great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in various tracks, which we will realise in the near future. African countries are fully aware of Russia’s undeniable advantages and solid competencies in some spheres, where it is second to none, namely, in the space and nuclear spheres I have mentioned.

We also see good potential in the new regional formats aimed at promoting the sovereign development of African countries. Our focus in this sphere is on strengthening cooperation with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a union of countries that are friendly to Russia – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Regrettably, Western countries are waging a large-scale campaign to destabilise the AES countries that are leading the fight against terrorism in Africa. We believe that Russia’s priority is to build up the counterterrorism capabilities of the AES and to promote the socioeconomic development of its member states.

With this aim in view, and in addition to our efforts on the bilateral track, we have launched a new format to promote ties between Russia and the AES this year.

In April 2025, we held the first meeting of the Russian and AES foreign ministers, which marked the Alliance’s debut on the foreign policy stage. Following that, we have held talks between our justice, defence and education ministers. We plan to maintain this positive dynamic in other spheres as well.