Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the plenary session of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg on Friday and will continue a series of bilateral meetings with African leaders.

Friday will be the main day of top-level events within the framework of the summit. The event will culminate with a plenary session, where Putin and the 17 African leaders who arrived in St Petersburg will deliver their speeches.

Overall, delegations from 49 countries of the continent are present at the event.

Later in the day, another plenary session will take place in the format of a working breakfast.

When the official events are over, joint documents will be adopted, including the summit’s final declaration. The document will reflect coordinated approaches to Russian-African cooperation and contacts on the international arena.

Putin will also hold a media briefing to sum up the results of the summit.

Meeting with African mission on Ukraine

Events within the framework of the summit will continue even after the formal part is over. For example, the Russian president will meet with the seven members of the African peace mission on Ukraine on Friday evening, in the format of a working dinner. It will be Putin’s second meeting with African leaders this summer.

The previous event in this format was held on June 17, in the Constantine’s Palace in St. Petersburg.

Bilateral contacts

Among bilateral contacts that Putin is scheduled to have on Friday are talks with the president of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera, Cameroonian President Paul Biya, Senegalese President Macky Sall and Chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed Al-Menfi.

The majority of bilateral meetings were held over the previous two days, on July 26 and 27, including with the leaders of Ethiopia, Egypt, Mozambique, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

He also had talks with the leadership of the African Union and a working breakfast with a wide range of African regional organizations. He also met with the head of the BRICS New Development Bank.

On Thursday night, Putin held a formal reception for his foreign guests.