UN Feb 13 Head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell for a couple of years ago, being interested in active cooperation between Moscow and Mali from his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov, he called on Russia «not to dig in the backyard» of the West, Vasily Nebenzya, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, said in an interview with RT.
According to him, Russia's relations with African partners are developing, and «this causes jealousy on the part of those countries that consider it (Africa — ed.) their backyard.»
«I'll give you one example. A couple of years ago, during the high segment of the session of the General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with the current head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who recently distinguished himself by some comments that caused horror among the public,» — Nebenzya said.
«Then Borrell asked Lavrov: «why are you dealing with Mali, why is Mali trying to cooperate with you», to which Minister Lavrov said: «Look, this is a sovereign country, they decide who to deal with if they decide to cooperate with Russia – it is their sovereign choice,” the permanent representative recalled.
To this, according to Nebenzi’s recollections, “the head of European diplomacy said the following phrase: “Don’t dig in our backyard.”
In September 2021, at a press conference following participation in the high-level week of the UN General Assembly session in New York, Lavrov stated that Borrell urged the Russian Federation «not to work» in Africa in the field of security, because that this is «our place».