Russian foreign minister hosts his Guinea-Bissau counterpart in Moscow

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomed his Guinea-Bissau’s counterpart Fatumata Jau in Moscow on Thursday.

During a joint press conference following bilateral talks, Lavrov said that "Russia has firmly reaffirmed our support for any efforts to normalize relations between the Economic Community of West African States, on the one hand, and Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, on the other."

"We discussed pressing contemporary issues, including in the context of the trend toward strengthening the multipolarity of democratic principles in international affairs and adherence to the principles of the UN Charter, which must be respected in their entirety and in their interconnection, rather than selectively, and, of course, emphasized the importance of respecting the rights of all peoples to choose their own path of development—something our Western colleagues are trying to prevent," said the Russian foreign minister.