Mali accepts Russia’s proposal to expand cooperation

Mali has accepted Russia’s proposal to hold a meeting on the expansion of bilateral cooperation in April, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said on Wednesday.

“We want to further boost our cooperation and that is why we accept Russia’s proposal to hold a meeting in April to expand our cooperation, to deepen this cooperation,” Diop said at a joint news conference after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Russian minister, in turn, said that they also agreed to take additional practical steps to develop trade and economic cooperation, “which is still significantly behind the level of our trusting political dialogue.”

“We confirmed our interest in holding a meeting of our respective economic departments to consider practical steps to implement the two visits to Moscow last year by delegations of Malian experts in such areas as the implementation of specific projects with the participation of Russian companies in geological exploration,” Lavrov said.

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Lavrov added that other projects are the development of mineral resources, transportation, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, information technology, and much more.

He said Moscow is committed to providing further humanitarian assistance to Mali.

“We discussed Mali’s humanitarian needs. We will certainly continue that support,” Lavrov said. (Sputnik/NAN)