Russia hosts African ministers to expand ties

SOCHI, Russia — Russia on Saturday opened the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa collaboration Forum in the city of Sochi, seeking to deepen ties with African nations and dispel a concept that it’s isolated by Western sanctions.

The conference is billed as building on last summer’s Russia-Africa summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin courted leaders from Africa and offered to expand political and business ties.

The two-day ministerial conference, which is attended by government and business leaders from Russia and Africa, will continue in the same format regularly, said Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to Putin.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russian state information agency RIA Novosti that the conference “dashed filthy hopes” for Russia’s isolation.

Zakharova said that dozens of bilateral meetings were taking place between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and African representatives, hailing the “multipolarity” demonstrated by the occurrence.

Lavrov is due to talk at the plenary session on Sunday.