President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends.
Once again, allow me to welcome you to Moscow, Russia.
As we have already mentioned in our earlier conversation today, I am pleased to note that this is not your first visit to Russia. We have been paying a lot of attention to expanding our bilateral contacts. However, this time presents a special occasion since you came here on Victory Day, which has special significance for Russia as a whole and for the entire former Soviet Union, considering the immense contribution by the peoples of the former Soviet Union and the sacrifices they made to achieve Victory.
There is another point I wanted to make. Russia played a special role in supporting Guinea-Bissau in its struggle for independence, as we have just mentioned when we talked to each other face to face. Russia helped establish Guinea-Bissau’s statehood and contributed to expanding your country’s economic, scientific and technological potential.
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The ties between our two countries are rooted in long-standing traditions of friendship, as well as the principles of equality and mutual respect. Let me remind you that last year we marked the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. We have been maintaining effective inter-parliamentary and inter-agency ties too. Today, we have an opportunity to discuss our performance under bilateral agreements in various sectors and further steps to expand our cooperation.
I must note that students from your country continue to study in Russia. We are ready to offer Guinea-Bissau an even bigger quota.
Russia and Guinea-Bissau have demonstrated solidarity when dealing with many urgent matters on the global agenda and share close positions on the emergence of a multipolar world order and security matters. I do hope that we will continue these contacts on essential issues.
We have been paying special attention to our relations with African countries and seeking to ease their debt burden.
Held last year in St Petersburg, the Russia-Africa Summit resulted in the adoption of a solid package of joint documents, including a detailed declaration and a specific plan of action until 2026. You took a proactive part in this event. We will make every effort to ensure that these agreements become reality.
As you know, we have a new dialogue format – the Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, held at the level of foreign ministers. We are working on arrangements for the first meeting of this kind, which is scheduled to take place in November 2024 in Sochi. We hope that the Foreign Minister of Guinea-Bissau will attend it.
Mr President, this is not your first visit to our country. However, we have yet to arrange the first state visit to Russia. It is a pleasure for me to invite you to pay a state visit to the Russian Federation at a time that would be convenient for you, and I will make sure to coordinate its timeframe accordingly. We have yet to set the exact dates, but please keep in mind that we are looking forward to your state visit.
Thank you very much.
President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo (retranslated): Thank you very much.
(Speaks in Russian) Mr President, my dear friend.
(Retranslated) I am delighted to be here as your friend and to meet with you in this context. Mr President, I am grateful for the warm welcome you have given us.
As a fraternal nation of Russia, we can say that today the people of Guinea-Bissau are free and independent. We remember that [the troops commanded by] Marshal Zhukov took part in the battle of Berlin and in Germany’s unconditional surrender. We are happy with that historical victory of the Soviet Union. We were good allies now, and we hope to remain good allies in the future. You can count on Guinea-Bissau as a reliable partner, which will never change.
The people at this table are closely listening to you, including our Chief of the General Staff and our generals. They lived here and studied at your academies and other Russian educational institutions.
Mr President, it is not easy to set an example of solidarity and resolve, but we are doing this by demonstrating solidarity between our nations. I would like to use this occasion to express gratitude to you for the support which Russia is giving to the people of Guinea-Bissau.
We are grateful for your assistance. I would also like to thank you for inviting me to Russia. I hope that one day you will take a tour of Africa that will include Guinea-Bissau. I believe it very important for our friend, the Foreign Minister, to accompany you.
We welcomed many officials, many high-ranking officials. Today, we are looking forward to meetings at the level of foreign ministers and other representatives of the Russian Federation.
Over 70 percent of our servicemen and civilian officials were trained in the Soviet Union. This explains the level of our interaction with Russia.
We are celebrating the 79th anniversary of Victory Day, and we have solid reasons for celebrating this event. During our talks behind closed doors, we will discuss more relevant issues that are necessary for strengthening our interaction and cooperation.
(Speaks in Russian) Thank you, my dear friend.
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