hakainda dear prime minister of the arab republic of egypt mr. stafa molly dear representatives of the republic of the congo and uganda dear friends the development of relations with the countries of the african continent is a priority of russian foreign policy, consistently, we stand for the further strengthening of traditionally friendly relations with the countries of africa and the main regional association , the african union, on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual respect and non -interference in internal affairs. this year, our cooperation with african partners in the widest range of areas is developing very actively , we will have to comprehensively prepare for the landmark event of the second russia africa itself , which will soon take place here in st. petersburg, i am sure that during this the event will be able to identify new promising areas of interaction between political, economic, scientific and technical, humanitarian and other areas. i would like to emphasize that in russia the principled positions of african states