The Embassy of Ukraine has officially started work in the Republic of Botswana (South Africa).
This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The embassy was opened on April 16 by the special representative of Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa Maksym Subh and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Botswana Lemogang Kwape.
The event was attended by members of the government of Botswana, business circles, members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Gaborone, representatives of the Ukrainian community and local media.
"I am convinced that the start of activities of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Gaborone will allow us to establish smooth and effective interaction between our countries, to coordinate positions on important initiatives within the framework of the UN and other international organizations," Subh emphasized.
Lemogang Kvape received a personal message from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and an invitation to join the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. They also discussed preparations for the peace summit in Switzerland, in which Botswana was invited to participate.
- After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Ukraine decided to strengthen relations with African countries. Since October 2022, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has already conducted three tours of African countries.
- Ukraineʼs strategy is to "free Africa from Russian influence," Kuleba said in August 2023.
- At the end of 2023, it became known that Ukraine plans to open ten more embassies in Africa. On April 11, Ukraine opened an embassy in Ivory Coast.