Ruto courts Russian factories and infrastructure capital at Moscow summit

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 20:35 SAST

At the closing press conference with African Union chair and Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, Putin said the summit had approved the Moscow Declaration, describing it as a comprehensive, long-term document that commits the participating states to “a just and democratic multipolar world order” based on international law and the UN Charter (AB24 translation from the Kremlin’s Russian-language transcript; also reported by RIA Novosti). The Russia–Africa Partnership Forum action plan for 2027–2029 was also approved. As of 20:30 SAST the Kremlin had not posted the adopted declaration text, so AB24 still cannot confirm whether it matches the draft published by Jeune Afrique. Separately, Ethiopia used the summit to announce Russian Su-35 jets and S-400 air defences: full story.

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 18:35 SAST

Foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi, travelling with Ruto, said the African Union should take up Russia’s recruitment of Africans to fight in Ukraine, and acknowledged that Kenya does not know how many of its citizens were recruited, The Africa Report reported from Moscow. Kenya’s official records list 354 nationals linked to the war. Full story. As of 18:30 SAST, the Kremlin’s summit page still described the final declaration as “expected to be adopted” and had not posted the adopted text.

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 16:35 SAST

The plenary adopted the summit’s final declaration, a declaration on cooperation in civilian uses of artificial intelligence and the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum action plan for 2027–2029, Egyptian presidency spokesman Mohamed El-Shennawy said, according to the Egyptian Gazette. The Kremlin had not posted the adopted text at filing time. Jeune Afrique has published a 101-point text dated 29 October and marked “Draft” and “Unofficial translation”; AB24 has not been able to confirm that it matches the adopted version.

In that draft, the parties undertake to coordinate within the UN Security Council on sanctions policy towards African states “with a view to further mitigating and lifting of restrictive measures that are no longer relevant”, to oppose unilateral coercive measures adopted without the Council, and to back Security Council reform in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. It supports a “diversified energy mix” including fossil fuels, nuclear, hydrogen and renewables, references the Mission 300 electrification goal, and opposes the “unjustified detention, seizure or arrest of civilian vessels”. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi used his speech to call for Security Council reform and to warn against the militarisation of the Red Sea by non-littoral states, the Egyptian Gazette reported.

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 14:35 SAST

Opening the plenary, Vladimir Putin said Russia’s trade with African states exceeded $27 billion last year, up 50% since the 2023 summit, that the ruble now accounts for 85% of settlements in that trade, and that Russia shipped more than 18 million tonnes of grain to Africa in 2025 and 13 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2026, according to the Kremlin transcript. He also said 47 African countries are eligible for Eurasian Economic Union tariff preferences, 32 of them at zero duty.

AU chairperson Évariste Ndayishimiye told the summit that Africa does not want “to be consigned to exporting our raw materials only to then import the finished products—at a high cost”, Africanews reported. Delegations from 48 of Africa’s 54 countries attended, including 22 heads of state or government, Kommersant reported. The Kremlin said a final declaration, the 2027–2029 action plan and a declaration on civilian AI were due to be adopted; at filing time the adopted texts had not been published.

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 12:25 SAST

Kenya has signed a memorandum of understanding on transport with Russia on the summit sidelines. Russia’s transport ministry said the document, signed for Kenya by Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and for Russia by Transport Minister Dmitry Yadrov, covers civil aviation, rail, maritime and urban transport, transport planning and intermodal freight, infrastructure design and construction, intelligent transport systems, safety and staff training (as published by Mintrans and carried by RusCable). An MoU is a framework, not a financing deal; no project or funding figures were published.

The summit’s plenary opened in the Kremlin on 29 October, co-chaired by Vladimir Putin and AU chairperson and Burundi president Évariste Ndayishimiye, with a final declaration, a 2027–2029 partnership-forum action plan and a declaration on civilian AI expected to be adopted, the Kremlin said. Presidential adviser Anton Kobyakov told a closing press conference that more than 60 agreements had been signed across the summit and economic forum, excluding commercially confidential documents, Vedomosti reported. The adopted declaration text had not been published at filing time.

Update · 29 Oct 2026, 10:35 SAST

On the summit’s first day, 28 October, AU Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed an AU Commission–Russian Federation Action Plan for 2027–2029 covering 19 areas of cooperation, from counter-terrorism and AI-enabled early warning to energy, transport and health, the African Union said. The AU’s own text notes the plan “does not create rights or obligations under international law”.

Russia’s foreign ministry, as reported by RIA Novosti, said memoranda were also signed with the East African Community, COMESA and the AfCFTA Secretariat, alongside action plans with COMESA, SADC and ECCAS. No Kenya–Russia bilateral agreement had been published by filing time; Ruto’s day-one engagements centred on the investment pitch reported below. Summit sessions continue on 29 October.