Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov . File photoALGERIA, May 10.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Algeria on a visit, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. As expected, in Algeria, the minister will hold talks with the country's Foreign Minister Ramtan Lamamra. Lavrov last visited Algeria in 2019. The current visit of the minister was not previously announced. The Russian Foreign Ministry notes that Algeria occupies one of the first places in Africa and the Arab world in terms of purchases of Russian products and, along with Morocco and Egypt, is one of the three leading trading partners of Russia on the African continent. Against the backdrop of large-scale sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia after the start of a special military operation, Algeria did not join the restrictive measures against Moscow and maintains a neutral position. In addition, Algeria is a member of the Arab League Contact Group on Ukraine, and in March, the Algerian Foreign Minister visited Moscow as part of the Contact Group delegation. >No sanctions will break the will of the Russian people and authorities, Lavrov said. In general, trade and economic cooperation with Algeria dates back to the 60s of the last century, when Russia provided the African country with great assistance in creating a national industrial base and developing energy, mining and metallurgical industries, mechanical engineering and water management. Ties between the two countries in the field of military-technical cooperation are actively developing. Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called Algeria one of the priority countries for Russia's military-technical cooperation in Africa. Algeria is one of the ten largest world gas producers. The level of oil production in the country before the introduction of restrictions under the OPEC + deal in May 2020 was about 1.3 million barrels per day, in February 2022 — 982 thousand barrels. The Algerian state oil company Sonatrach is engaged in the extraction, processing, transportation and sale of hydrocarbons and is the largest not only in Algeria, but throughout Africa.Bloomberg called the stoppage of oil exports from Russia the suicide of the West. Currently, the EU is discussing the issue of a complete rejection of Russian energy sources, although European capitals admit that it will be difficult to quickly find a replacement for oil and gas from Russia. At the same time, Algeria is considered one of the countries that can reimburse supplies. However, at the end of April, Algeria threatened to terminate the contract for gas supplies to Spain in the event of a breach of contractual obligations by Madrid and the launch of gas reversal through the Maghreb-Europe (MEG) gas pipeline. In 2021, Algeria did not renew the contract for gas supplies to Spain through Morocco passing through main gas pipeline Maghreb-Europe. The termination of the contract is connected with the rupture of relations between Algeria and Morocco. All gas supplies from Algeria to Spain since November have been via the Medgaz gas pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea. media
