President Tebboune To Visit Russia, FM Lamamra Says
Russia news agency Sputnik quoted Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, on Friday, as confirming that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s visit to Moscow is being actively prepared, with the hope that it will take place before the end of this year.
The Algerian foreign minister told the agency on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum: “We hope that the visit will take place before the end of the year, and now preparations are underway for this visit, and it is important for both countries and we are actively and positively participating in its preparation.”
“We have a wide-ranging and long-term cooperation programme. Algeria and Russia are important partners for each other, and we are conducting a high-level political dialogue. We hope that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s visit to Russia will be the beginning of a new phase in our relations”, Lamamra added.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had invited the President of Algeria to visit his country, and the Russian side was awaiting the decision.
Algeria is one of Russia’s most important military allies on the African continent and also one of the largest regional customers for its weapons.
Over the last few years, Algeria has sealed huge deals with Russia for the supply of various types of armaments and equipment, especially air and ground weaponry.
Algeria and Russia have demonstrated close military cooperation, organising several joint military exercises, either in Algeria or Russia to counter-terrorism and organised crime.
Previously, US Ambassador to Algeria Elizabeth Moore Aubin commented on a request presented last month by some US Congressmen demanding that Washington sanction Algiers for trading arms with Russia, saying that part of her diplomatic job is to explain US law to Algerian officials.
“Algeria’s officials will then make sovereign decisions for this country,” she said in an interview with Interlignes (watch the full interview published on Youtube).
In September, Republican Lisa McClain was reported to be leading a group of members of Congress, calling on the US government to impose sanctions against Algeria for its purchase of Russian arms.
The demand is based on the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed by Congress in August 2017. Republican Senator Marco Rubio has also recently invoked this law to approve a package of sanctions against Algeria for its military ties with Moscow.
Through such a federal order, Washington sanctions countries that enter into defence or intelligence agreements with certain nations, such as North Korea, Iran or Russia.
In April, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received a phone call from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders had agreed on “high-level visits between Algerian and Russian leaders, as well as the next meeting of the joint commission for economic cooperation”.
Visiting Algiers in May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov conveyed an official invitation from President Putin to President Tebboune to make an official visit to Moscow; “We have confirmed the Algerian President’s invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Moscow,” he said at a press conference.
Ramtane Lamamra is representing President Tebboune in the 5th Paris Peace Forum on 11-12 November, a statement by the Foreign Ministry said.
“The participation of Minister Lamamra in this meeting will be an opportunity to renew Algeria’s commitment to multilateralism and to its positions of principle advocating the need to correct the imbalances that characterize the mechanisms of global governance and to promote the advent of a new cooperative, equitable and united world order capable of guaranteeing peace, stability and development and of preserving the interests of developing countries”, the FM explained.
According to the same source, the Head of Algerian diplomacy will seize this opportunity “to interact with his counterparts and other heads of delegations on bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest”.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was invited by his French counterpart to this forum, which is in its fifth edition and whose theme is “Overcoming the Multi-Crisis”.
