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Moscow has written off more than $20 billion in debt accumulated by African countries during the Soviet era. [...]

"It was not only an act of generosity, but also a manifestation of pragmatism, because many of the African states were not able to pay interest on these loans," Putin told TASS on the eve of the summit.

While addressing the Russia-Africa forum in Sochi, he called for trade between Russia and African countries to be doubled in the next four to five years.

A contract for the supply of 12 Mi-35 attack helicopters has been sealed by Russia and Niger on Wednesday in Sochi at the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum.

Niger's Foreign Minister Kalla Ankourao said the aircraft will be used to fight the Boko Haram terrorist organization.

An intergovernmental agreement for cooperation on peaceful use of nuclear energy has been signed by Moscow and Addis Ababa, according to the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

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A convoy of armoured personnel carriers is flanked on all sides by irate Kurds shouting "No America" and "America liar" in English while one resident can be heard describing US troops as fleeing "Like rats... America is running away," in Arabic.

The angry citizens appear to be firing potatoes at their departing former allies but the Rudaw news agency reports that tomatoes were the projectile of choice.

According to the [NYT], in addition to the main goal — to prevent the resurgence of Daesh in Syria or neighbouring Iraq — it is important for the United States to assist the Kurds in maintaining control of the oil fields in the east.

Three representatives of the presidential administration and the Department of Defence confirmed that senior US politicians and commanders had discussed such a plan. Trump, according to The New York Times, is now hesitating between two options, either to achieve the ultimate goal and send the US military home from Syria and end the war or to make sure that the containment and weakening of Daesh continues. Per some officials, Trump may say that the deployment of the small contingent is a reasonable way to ensure security in the region and in the United States, without breaking his promise.

Commenting on the possibility of leaving a small number of military personnel in eastern Syria, the White House said that this was not a change of policy, because the main purpose of the withdrawal was to protect the people.

"As a result of the actions of the Turkish army in Syria, eight refugee camps and 12 prisons for foreign militants remained unprotected. This could lead to a surge in the so-called reverse migration of terrorists to their historical homeland," Shoigu said at a plenary meeting of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum.

"There is a need to consolidate the efforts of the entire world community to counter terrorists' challenges, their ideology and propaganda. The Russian Defence Ministry has gained vast experience in this area, which we are ready to share with our partners in the Asia-Pacific region," Shoigu stressed.

"We very much hope that the steps that are being taken now — our cooperation with Turkish and US colleagues — will allow regional security and stability to improve instead of degrading. The events of the past few days, are, unfortunately, seeding unoptimistic thoughts", Shoigu told participants of a security forum in Beijing.

He also noted that Moscow sees this as a problem which "should be solved immediately, and not only at the Russia-Turkey-US level".

"This is the existing international legal framework that has been recently confirmed by both parties, including in the context of current events. If the parties, in the course of contacts, consider it necessary and mutually acceptable to clarify or amend this agreement in any way, this will be their decision, we will certainly accept and support it," Lavrov said at a press conference.

Lavrov further noted that all the Kurds present in Syria should be covered by the new Syrian constitution in order to guarantee the absence of any threat coming from the Syrian territory against Turkey.

"All the Kurdish structures on the Syrian territory should be solidly covered by the Syrian legislation, the Syrian constitution, so that there are no illegal armed groups on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, and so that no threat to security of the Republic of Turkey and any other nation comes from the Syrian territory," Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva.

The minister further noted that Russia had no plans to host a Syria-Turkey security meeting amid existing tensions over Turkey's offensive in the north of the neighbouring country

"A representative of the presidential administration has already commented on planned contacts between Syrian and Turkish representatives in Sochi. We do not plan such contacts," Lavrov said at a press conference.

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