Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame, the Somalian ambassador to Russia, told Sputnik that he hoped Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's visit to Russia, which will take place during the October Russia-Africa summit, would boost bilateral relations
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th September, 2019) Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame, the Somalian ambassador to Russia, told Sputnik that he hoped Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's visit to Russia, which will take place during the October Russia-Africa summit, would boost bilateral relations."The key ministers are coming with [the Somalian president to the Russia-Africa summit], and I think something good will come out, and we will see the relationship will flourish again and give some product. Somali people ... [would] like to see the Russians [come] back to Somali," the ambassador said, while also noting that this would be Mohamed's first visit to Russia.
Warsame added that he had already requested individual bilateral meetings between the countries' presidents, and foreign and defense ministers.
The ambassador also said that Mikhail Golovanov, the Russian ambassador to Somalia, who is based in Djibouti, visited Somalia on September 17 to meet with officials.
Asked about possible fields of cooperation between Moscow and Mogadishu, Warsame said that Russia has expressed an interest in importing fish from Somalia. He added that steps had been made toward the cooperation in the military area.
The diplomat expressed his regret over the difficult political and security situation in Somalia, which prevents the country from full cooperation with Russia, and recalled the level of ties with Moscow during the Soviet era.
"Somali-Russia relationship has a very long history starting from our independence, Russia has made a good [contribution] to ... our independence," the ambassador said, adding that many Somalian experts in various areas were trained in the Soviet Union thanks to scholarships.
Somalia has been engulfed in violence since the eruption of a civil war between clan-based armed groups in the early 1990s. The situation has been further complicated by Al-Shabaab militants, who are staging numerous attacks across the country in an attempt to impose a radical version of Sharia law in Somalia.
The first-ever Russia-Africa Summit and business forum will take place in the Russian resort city of Sochi from October 23-24 and be chaired by the presidents of Russia and Egypt. About 40 heads of African states are expected to attend the event.
