Tanzania's president visits Russia amid frayed ties with the West

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan held talks with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday at the start of a three-day state visit to Moscow, her first official trip abroad since she won last year’s election.

It comes as she and her government face isolation by the West over the violent crackdown by security forces following the disputed October polls in which its estimated that more than 1,000 people died.

In contrast, Putin was one of the first to congratulate her after she was declared winner with 98 per cent of the vote.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the Russian president thanked Hassan for the visit.

"We see this as a very positive sign that all these years, especially in recent years, when you served as both minister and in the government, as vice president, you have consistently focused on developing our bilateral ties," he said.

He said trade ties between the two countries were developing “intensively” and noted that trade turnover rose by 25 per cent in 2025.

Hassan is accompanied by a business delegation as she hopes to cement deals in trade, tourism, and minerals.

The only current concrete joint project is a planned uranium mine that has been on the drawing board for more than a decade.

Tanzania is one of Africa’s top five producers of the element.

Hassan, in turn, thanked Russia for its contribution to Africa's liberation movements and welcomed the opportunity to discuss further development of bilateral relations.

Relations between the two countries have been warming since Hassan’s election.

A Russia-Tanzania Business Council was created in January and last month Air Tanzania announced the launch of direct flights to Moscow by the end of the year.

On Friday Hassan will attend the Petersburg International Economic Forum.