By Ebi Kesiena
In a bid to increase cooperation with his Russian counterpart, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday that he will attend the upcoming Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
“I will definitely come to St. Petersburg in July. In this issue, the political will is of crucial importance. It is not an issue of needs, but an issue of ideology. As long as you profess the ideology of equality and brotherhood, the other things are simply details,” Museveni told Russia’s TASS news agency.
Museveni had a good decade of increasing communication and cooperation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin is a key supplier of Uganda’s equipment, technology and knowledge transfer in the military sector.
Furthermore, the Uganda President stated that his government should not be criticized for taking sides with Russia.
“Whenever issues come up and some people want to take positions against Russians, we say these people have been with us for over 100 years. We have even forgiven colonizers the people who made us slaves,” he said.
The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum is scheduled for July 26 – 29. The first summit was held Oct. 22 – 24, 2019, in Sochi under the slogan: “For Peace, Security and Development.”
Uganda is among 17 African nations that abstained from a UN vote to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine.
