Russia has trained thousands of specialists for the Republic of the Congo in recent years, President Vladimir Putin has said during talks with Congolese leader Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Speaking in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin also emphasized that Russia sees strong potential to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors, ranging from economic ties to energy, logistics, agriculture, and geological exploration.
“Eight thousand specialists have been trained in Russia in previous years for your country,” Putin said.
He congratulated Sassou Nguesso on his reelection last month, noting that Russia was the first foreign destination following the vote, and invited him to take part in the third upcoming Russia-Africa Summit, which will be held in October.
For his part, the Congolese leader said that after the talks in Moscow, both sides would be able to better define parts of their cooperation plan and agree on it for the next three years. He added that, with a new government now taking office in Congo, the two countries would have the opportunity to work together on developing an updated joint program.
He also thanked Russia for providing mobile laboratories, stressing that this is “extremely important” for the country.
The Congolese president’s state visit to Moscow, running from April 28 to May 2, marks his first trip abroad since his inauguration on April 16 for his eighth presidential term. Sassou Nguesso secured a decisive victory in the March election, where he won 94.8% of the vote against six other candidates.
Earlier this month, Sassou Nguesso held talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, who headed a Russian delegation and attended the inauguration ceremony. The discussions covered a broad range of areas of cooperation, including energy, trade, finance, industry, and transport.
In a separate development, plans for the construction of the Pointe-Noire–Loutete–Maloukou-Trechot oil products pipeline were discussed last July. The project in the Republic of the Congo, which will reach the Atlantic Ocean in the north of the country and involve Russian participation, could begin in 2026.