Russia and Mozambique reaffirm defence cooperation after foreign ministers' meeting

Russia and Mozambique reaffirmed their defence relations during a visit from the African country’s foreign minister to Moscow on Tuesday. 

Maria Manuela Lucas expressed concern over the ongoing war in Ukraine, but praised the "resilience" of the Russian people. 

She said Mozambique had been following the situation "closely" and that her country "would very much like for this matter to be resolved in a peaceful way."

Lucas also stressed the war's impact on food security in Africa.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address that there would be another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday. 

Mozambique's foreign minister said she hoped the upcoming negotiations would be "successful."

Maria Manuela Lucas’ visit to Moscow also allowed her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to proclaim his country’s commitment to provide defence assistance to Mozambique. 

"We have confirmed our readiness to consider all requests from our friends in Mozambique on issues related to the need to strengthen their defence capability, strengthen their potential in the anti-terrorist sphere", Lavrov said.

"Unfortunately, such threats in Mozambique and in other African countries in general remain." 

Russia and Mozambique have intensified their military cooperation for several years.  

The Mozambique government hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner paramilitary group in 2019 to help fight a jihadist insurgency.

A 2020 German intelligence report found that Russia was planning to build a military base in the African country.