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Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
The Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda is scheduled to attend the World Conference on Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations to be held in St Petersburg, Russia in May next year.
Russia’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Nikolai Krasilnikov yesterday paid a courtesy call on Advocate Mudenda and thanked him for accepting the invitation to attend the conference.
“We had a wonderful conversation with the Speaker and discussed major issues of Russia and Zimbabwe cooperation,” he said.
“We appreciate the decision by the Speaker to participate at the forthcoming World Conference on Intercultural and Interfaith dialogue that will take place in Russia in May next year organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and supported by the UN.”
Ambassador Krasilnikov said the conference provides a platform for equal and constructive discussion among the parliamentary community on how to move forward in addressing new challenges and threats like the Covid-19 pandemic, terrorism, cyber-crime and disregard of traditional values.
He said the Russian parliament was determined to work internationally with peace-loving nations like Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe is one of the major partners of the Russian Federation and I assured the Speaker that Russian nation and its Government will continue to stand in solidarity in fighting new threats brought about by the pandemic and attempts by some members of the international community to use it as a tool to apply more pressure on sovereign nations through illegal economic sanctions,” said Ambassador Krasilnikov.
He said there were huge prospects for the two countries to cooperate in such areas as mining, agriculture, technology transfers and humanitarian assistance.
He commended Zimbabwe for hosting the Museum of African Liberation (MAL).
“In Russia we regard it as one of the key factors in preserving the legacy of the African liberation as well as the legacy of actors and countries that supported Africa like Russia, China and Cuba,” said Ambassador Krasilnikov.
“We are grateful to the Zimbabwean Government for allocating a section of the Museum dedicated to the input of Russia in the struggle,” he said.
President Mnangagwa officially launched the MAL last year and has since invited interested countries in Africa and beyond to contribute financially and materially towards its construction and establishment.
Online Reporter