Maksim Topilin Commented on the Future Cooperation between the CSTO Member States and African Countries

At the Russia-Africa summit, the CSTO and the SCO reached agreements with the African Union to expand the dialogue to combat terrorism in all its manifestations: both international terrorist organizations and terrorism based on national, ethnic and religious grounds.

In an interview with the press service of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, Russian State Duma deputy, Deputy Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Socioeconomic and Legal Issues Maksim Topilin commented on these agreements.

“The peoples of African countries – all of them without exception – remember the humiliation, and often annihilation, suffered under the colonial regimes of Western states. And it lasted for centuries. It was the Soviet Union in the 1960s that reached out and supported the liberation movements of African peoples. And this historical memory, I think, cannot be erased,” Maksim Topilin emphasized.

The deputy added that African countries are much closer to the CSTO Member States than to NATO states.

“It is safe to say that most African countries are much closer to the CSTO States – most of them resist the imposed hegemony of the United States and its satellites,” said Mr Topilin.

As you may recall, at a meeting with members of the government on August 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the results of the second Russia-Africa summit held in St Petersburg on July 27–28, stressed the importance of cooperation with African countries in a number of areas.