Russia Pledges Support For West African States -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

On 19th November 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin held diplomatic talks in Moscow with President of the Council of Ministers of the Togolese Republic, Faure Gnassingbé, who arrived on official working visit in the Russian Federation.

The two leaders discussed issues pertaining to the development of political, trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Togo as well as current regional matters. Putin noted that, despite the absence of embassies, trade and economic activity have steadily been developing. In order to facilitate trade and economic cooperation, Putin and Gnassingbé have agreed to opening of embassies and create an intergovernmental commission to respective sustain contacts and accelerate this process and trend.

As for humanitarian relations, Russia currently focused primarily on education and training, as it considers this as an important area. Several hundred of Togolese citizens are studying in Russia, over 80 of whom are studying on government budget, and after completion, will make significant contributions to the development of their homeland in the future.

In his contribution, Faure Gnassingbé readily shared the same thoughts with Putin, agreeing to the fact that Russia and Togo have long had diplomatic missions closed, but now entering a new era in bilateral relations with the opening of diplomatic missions.

“We have several priorities, and one area that plays a key role is education. Many Togolese students study in Russia today, it’s an excellent way to make a significant contribution to the development of relations and in the country. And I believe that opening embassies will only allow us to expand bilateral cooperation in this area,”underlined Gnassingbé.

In his concluding words, Gnassingbé pointed to another area as fighting against terrorism and security in West African region. He asked Putin to help the countries of the Sahel Alliance—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—in the fight against terrorism.

“This is extremely important for us, because we too are exposed to attacks by terrorists operating in the provinces of these countries,” he stressed with Putin. All of West Africa suffers from the terrorist threat, and in this regard, Russia has to support these African countries.