The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to The Kingdom of Lesotho, Mr Iiya Ragochev paid a Farewell Courtesy on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Mr. Lejone Mpotjoane, as he completed his tour of duty.

Speaking in an interview with the Agency on Sunday, Mr. Mpotjoane said that the two countries' relations come back as Russia has assisted Lesotho on a number of fields such as Agriculture and with training of Lesotho’ s army.

He stated that some Basotho have been awarded scholarships to study in Russian and civil servants have also been taken for skills training in Russia.

Diplomatic Relations between Lesotho and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R) were established in 1980.

Subsequent to that, Russia opened a Resident Diplomatic Mission in Maseru in 1983-1992.

The diplomatic relations at that time were considerably strong as many Basotho students were offered scholarships and studied in Russian institutions of higher learning, in various fields.

However, circumstances changed in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Nevertheless, Lesotho and Russia still maintain warm and friendly relations, characterized by mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty.

The Russian Federation covers Lesotho from Pretoria, Republic of South Africa while Lesotho covers Russia from Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.