President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, had a meeting, Thursday, at Carthage Palace with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergeï Lavrov, who is paying a two-day official visit to Tunisia on December 20 and 21.
The Head of State welcomed the historic ties between the two countries, expressing Tunisia’s commitment to boost bilateral cooperation in several fields, reads a statement of the Presidency of the Republic.
During the meeting, Saied expressed Tunisia’s “unconditional support” to the Palestinian people and to their struggle to establish an independent State, urging the international community to halt the barbaric attacks against Gazans.
The head of the Russian diplomacy expressed his country’s full readiness to develop cooperation with Tunisia in several areas, namely in agriculture, energy, health, higher education, culture, new technologies, trade and space.
He also conveyed to President Saïed the greetings of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who welcomed the reforms implemented by Tunis
ia, the same source adds.
In a video published by the Presidency of the Republic on its Facebook page Lavrov pointed out that trade between Tunisia and Russia tripled during the first nine months of 2023.
«They amount to one billion and a half billion dollars,» he revealed, voicing the two countries’ will to promote cooperation in other areas, namely agriculture, energy and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The Russian minister recalled that a Russian rocket launched a Tunisian telecommunications satellite into space, pointing out that a second satellite will be launched in 2024.
«An agreement has been reached between a Tunisian company and another Russian company to produce five new satellites,» he added.
The Russian Foreign Minister spoke of the “promising” prospects for cooperation in public health, recalling that Tunisia was one of the first countries in the world to use the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
The joint government commission for commercial, economic, scientific and technical c
ooperation will ensure the monitoring of relations in all the areas mentioned, he underscored, affirming that it will hold its regular meeting in the first quarter of 2024 in Moscow.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse