MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The idea of the Russia - Africa summit is to facilitate expansion of cooperation across all the areas, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.

"The motto of the third Russia - Africa summit ‘For peace, security and development’ fully repeats the motto of previous summits. The idea of this summit is to promote the expansion of Russian-African cooperation in all areas and, certainly, to facilitate strengthening of African countries’ sovereignty," Ushakov said.

The summit testifies to the special importance that Russia attaches to its relations with African states, the high-ranking official said. "These relations rest on time-tested traditions of friendship, mutual respect, equality, and solidarity. It is well known that our country aided and assisted African peoples in their struggle against colonial oppression, and wholeheartedly and selflessly supported the states of the continent in their pursuit of freedom, independence, modern development, and the choice of their own models of political and socio-economic systems," he added.