Rosatom and Equatorial Guinea will explore joint initiatives alongside specialist training programs

Russia and Equatorial Guinea have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has said.

The agreement was signed in Moscow on Tuesday during a meeting between Rosatom Deputy Director General Nikolay Spassky and a delegation from the African nation led by Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono Angue.

According to Rosatom, the memorandum provides for the creation of joint working groups on projects in nuclear energy and non-energy applications of nuclear technologies. The deal also includes cooperation in specialist training.

Rosatom has been actively expanding its presence in Africa in recent years, including through the construction of Egypt's El Dabaa nuclear power plant, the continent's first large-scale nuclear energy project.

The agreement followed talks held in Moscow on Monday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Equatorial Guinean counterpart. The sides discussed bilateral ties, including security and defense cooperation.

Lavrov said Moscow remained open to expanding military-technical ties with the African state and was ready to respond to the country's defense needs.

"We are always ready to continue military-technical cooperation. We have a strong tradition of this [in this area]," the Russian foreign minister said.

Angue said Equatorial Guinea highly values Russia's role in training military specialists, stressing that African nations are facing growing terrorist threats and need to strengthen their defense capabilities.

"Terrorism is gaining momentum, [and] African countries, need to strengthen our capabilities, the ability of our forces to resist any threats, including those from terrorism," the minister said. He added that Equatorial Guinea particularly appreciated Russia's involvement in training national specialists and supporting the country's security sector.

Diplomatic relations between the countries were established on December 6, 1968, shortly after the African nation gained independence from Spain.

(RT.com)