President Uhuru met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during his tour of Beijing this week for the Belt and Road Forum. The exclusive meeting is said to have taken place on the sidelines of the Roundtable Summit of the forum that brought 28 world leaders together for a trade integration talk.
Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed termed the meeting as a possible renewal of ties with Russia.
“They (Kenyatta and Putin) had a discussion and I had a discussion with my counterpart (Sergei Lavrov). I invited Mr. Lavrov to come to Kenya and he said he is going to look at it and give a response very soon,” said Ms. Mohamed in a briefing to journalists as reported by Daily Nation.
President Uhuru chose China and Russia as his first countries to visit when he was elected, calling his mission a search for new markets following multiple travel advisories by the West which has traditionally been Kenya’s largest source of tourists.
The relationship between Kenya and China has strengthened over the past decade, recording over $5 billion pledges by Kenya in various projects, and over Sh. 47 billion worth of deals with China such as SGR, power plants and other major contracts.
President Uhuru is scheduled to attend the annual G7 summit in Rome, Italy. He’s the only African president invited, a gesture that has boosted the president’s credibility after a long battle with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court which he won.
The G7 includes the world’s most industrialized democracies US, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Italy, and Japan. The leaders meet annually to discuss economic governance, security, and energy policies.
Last year alone, Russia exported to Kenya goods worth $130.36 million while Kenyan exported $137.5 million worth of goods to the country, including tea, coffee, and flowers.