Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe is in Sochi, Russia, for the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
On the sidelines of this conference he met with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Together they signed a visa waiver agreement for holders of service and diplomatic passports.
On 30th June 1962, a day before Rwanda gained independence from Belgium, the Soviet Union Government sent a telegram to Kigali recognizing Rwanda as a sovereign and independent state and offered to establish diplomatic relations. The latter were established between the two states on 17th October 1963.
Currently, both countries enjoy good relations through respective resident Diplomatic Missions at Ambassadorial level. The bilateral cooperation between the two countries revolves around political, military, education, human resource development/training and cultural ties. Russia offers University scholarships for Rwandans, and some training for Police officers. (End)