After speaking over the phone with his counterpart in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced that he would be traveling to Russia in May.
Tebboune and Putin spoke by phone on “bilateral relations, particularly energy cooperation,” according to a statement from the Algerian president.
Although Algeria has enjoyed cordial relations with Moscow for many years, the impact from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made Algeria, Africa’s largest gas supplier, essential for Europe’s energy security.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, bilateral commerce between Algeria and Russia in 2021 was valued at $3 billion.
In May, Tebboune is also scheduled to make a state visit to the erstwhile colonial powerhouse France, though it is unclear which nation he will go to first.
In recent months, Algeria has welcomed a number of prominent European officials looking for alternatives to Russian energy supply, including French President Emmanuel Macron in August. Algeria sends gas straight to Spain and Italy via undersea pipelines.
The North African nation has been engaged in a protracted conflict with its neighbor Morocco, especially about the Western Sahara region, and severed all ties with Rabat in 2021 as a result of what Rabat has characterised as “hostile acts.”
Russia has direct control over the Western Sahara problem as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
