The Federation Council Speaker met with the President of the Senate of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko has met with President of the Senate of the Republic of Zimbabwe Mabel Chinomona.
The event was attended by Deputy Speakers of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev and Galina Karelova, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, and Senators Lyudmila Skakovskaya (head of the Federation Council’s group for cooperation with the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe) and Gennady Ordenov.
Valentina Matvienko and Mabel Chinomona signed an agreement on interparliamentary cooperation between the Federation Council and the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Valentina Matvienko pointed out that this would strengthen the legal framework of interparliamentary cooperation, take the parliaments’ dialogue to a new level and expand direct contacts between the relevant committees, commissions and friendship groups.
Mabel Chinomona expressed the hope that the document would provide the legal basis for closer ties between the two parliaments, which were stimulated by the Federation Council Speaker’s visit to Harare in June 2022.
The Federation Council Speaker noted the traditionally friendly Russian-Zimbabwean relations.
“The year 2023 will largely determine the future development of Russia-Africa relations. The recent parliamentary conference titled Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World has reaffirmed the African countries’ resolve to expand the framework of our cooperation despite the unprecedented Western pressure,” Valentina Matvienko said.
She welcomed the decision of the President of Zimbabwe to lead the national delegation to the second Russia-Africa Summit, which is scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in July 2023.
Valentina Matvienko invited Zimbabwean representatives to attend the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress, to be held in St Petersburg on 25–26 May 2023, and the fourth Eurasian Women’s Forum, which will tentatively meet in St Petersburg in 2024.
The Federation Council Speaker spoke about coordinating the efforts of Russia and Zimbabwe at international parliamentary venues, such as the African Parliamentary Union, and noted the importance of working together at the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
She highlighted the importance of youth contacts, adding that members of the Chamber of Young Legislators under the Federation Council were open to cooperation with their Zimbabwean colleagues and are ready to meet regularly, for example, via videoconferences, to discuss a broad range of current issues.
The Federation Council Speaker called on Zimbabwean businesspeople to develop closer ties with their colleagues in Russian regions. “We believe that the development of stable economic ties calls for coordinating measures to organise mutual settlements in national currencies,” she said.
Valentina Matvienko and Mabel Chinomona discussed ways to expedite the coordination of various bilateral agreements and contracts, and the export of agricultural products and other essential goods to African countries.
They also addressed the issue of training Zimbabwean professionals in various spheres at Russian universities.
Konstantin Kosachev spoke about the establishment of a monument to Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 and to the fight against neo-colonialism in Africa at the African Liberation Museum in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.
He handed over to the Zimbabwean delegates a report on a recent visit by a group of Russian experts who went to Harare to inspect the proposed site for the monument and to compile a project roadmap. The Deputy Speaker called for closer interaction with the concerned Zimbabwean agencies.