The foreign minister’s trip to Eritrea comes as part of his Africa tour, which took him to South Africa, Angola and Eswatini.

The visit comes after Lavrov visited officials in South Africa, one of his country’s most important allies on the continent, where on Monday he pushed back at criticisms over joint naval drills between Russia, China and South Africa scheduled for next month.

The discussion centred on the dynamics of the war in Ukraine and the enhancement of bilateral ties in energy, mining, information technology, education and health sectors, said Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Meskel late on Thursday.

President Isaias Afwerki received at State House today Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The discussions centered on the dynamics of the war in Ukraine & enhancement of bilateral ties on sectors of energy, mining, information technology. education & health pic.twitter.com/Ax5Shac3JC

— Yemane G. Meskel (@hawelti) January 26, 2023

Russia has found allies in several African countries which have taken a more neutral stance on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

At the United Nations General Assembly’s first resolution in March last year condemning Russian actions, African countries formed a significant proportion of those abstaining from voting. Eritrea was one of the only five countries to vote against it along with Syria, North Korea, China and Belarus.

Before visiting Eritrea and South Africa, Lavrov was in Angola and Eswatini.