Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço on Wednesday sent a message to Russia president, Vladimir Putin, congratulating him on Russia's day, which is being celebrated on June 12.
The congratulations are extended to the Russian people and government, as stated in the Head of State's message, to which ANGOP had access.
In the letter, João Lourenço expresses Angola's desire to continue to strengthen the historic relations of friendship that have united the two countries for more than five decades.
The Angolan stressed that the friendly relations between two nations have prospects for a future in which they can be further deepened, through the implementation of mutually advantageous cooperation projects in areas of common interest.
June 12 marks the anniversary of the First Congress of People's Deputies, at which the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was adopted in 1990.
On June 12, 1990, when the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse, the RSFSR (the largest and central republic of the USSR) followed other republics in declaring its sovereignty and imposing its laws on Soviet ones.
Boris Yeltsin the then leader of the RSFSR became a direct opponent of Mikhail Gorbachev, who remained President of the USSR.
This coupled with various national conflicts and the quest for independence by other republics led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union the following year. And so the Russian Federation was born. ART/DAN/AMP