FM Kuleba plans to go on second African tour next year

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is preparing a second tour of African countries, as part of which minister Dmytro Kuleba plans to visit Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya in the first quarter of 2023.

"During the second African tour, which we are preparing for the first quarter of 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs plans to visit Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya. We are currently focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, which no one in Ukraine has dealt with and in which Russia now has a strong position," Maksym Subkh, Ukraine’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, told ZN.UA in an interview.

According to the Special Representative, Ukraine’s cooperation with this region earlier was limited to sporadic contacts, one-time visits or telephone conversations, as a result of which Ukraine has ten embassies across Africa – five in North Africa and five in Sub-Saharan Africa – while Russia has more than 40 embassies on the continent.

As reported, on October 3, Dmytro Kuleba began the first ministerial tour of African countries in the history of Ukrainian diplomacy which was supposed to last until October 12. However, the minister had to suspend the tour on October 10 due to Russia's massive missile attack on Ukrainian cities.

ol