Russia's Putin and Congo's Sassou-Nguesso reminisce on World War 2 as they discuss military ties

Business Insider

08-05-2025

A Congolese delegation led by the Congo Republic's president, Sassou-Nguesso, met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his team to discuss the relationship between their countries.
The Congolese president Sassou-Nguesso met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral relations between their nations.
The meeting coincided with Russia's Victory Day commemorations, honoring their collaboration during the Second World War.
Putin highlighted stable mutual trade, educational partnerships, and aligned approaches on global issues.
After being welcomed by the Russian president during their meeting, the Congolese president thanked Putin for allowing him to participate in the celebrations commemorating the Great Patriotic War, which are currently being held in Moscow.
'I would like to cordially welcome you to today's meeting, which is taking place as part of our Victory Day commemoration of the Great Patriotic War,' Vladimir Putin stated.
He also touched on how both countries collaborated in the Second World War as valued partners, even working together during the Soviet era.
'Our mutual trade is stable, even if absolute numbers are modest, but we keep working to make sure that we attain better results in this field,' the Russian President stated.
'We have been preparing Congolese personnel in Russia, we have some 750 Congolese students attending our universities, and we allocated 250 state scholarships, and we are ready to increase this quota.
Russia and the Republic of the Congo share the same approaches to a number of global matters and matters on the global agenda. We appreciate the joint effort of our countries in the United Nations Organization,' he added.
From then on, Sassou-Nguesso went on to speak on the long-standing relationship between our two countries.
What Congolese president Sassou-Nguesso said
The Congolese president touched specifically on the fact that Africa was part of the movement that liberated the world from the grip of Nazi Germany, and he thanked the Russian president for ackknowldging that fact.
'Some people prefer to mention only the French army in the context of victory, but there were the Congolese troops as well that participated in that march and that parade,' Sassou-Nguesso stated.
'And people of Africa were also part of this movement, and it is a matter of great pride for us, and we are glad to see that you remember that we were part of the forces that fought against the Nazis.
Not only armed forces, but also our economic efforts were part of that Victory,' the Congolese President added.
Speaking on both countries' military ties, the Congolese president noted that their relationship is waxing strong, as evidenced by the fact that he was persuaded by some countries not to visit Russia but did so regardless.
'I would also like to say that some countries launched campaigns to talk us out of travelling here from participating in this event, but still we are here,' he stated.
'I also would like to mention the efforts that we are undertaking to consolidate our cooperation in defense, in the field of supplying our law enforcement agencies, our cooperation in training our civil engineers… and other fields such as energy,' he added.