ZIMBABWE and the United States of America have agreed to improve bilateral relations after the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Retired Lieutenant General Dr Sibusiso Moyo held frank discussions with America’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Brian Nichols.
The current administration under President Emmerson Mnangagwa has made efforts to move away from the frosty tone that characterised relations between Harare and Washington in the past.
However, according to political observers, America’s top envoy to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Ambassador Brian Nichols has on several occasions created an impression that he is partisan by meddling in the country’s internal affairs, the latest being his request to meet the African National Congress (ANC) delegation.
The ANC was in the country for bilateral talks with its sister revolutionary party, Zanu PF.
This Friday, the US ambassador paid a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Minister, Retired Lieutenant General Dr Sibusiso Moyo where he explained his request for proposing to meet the ANC delegation.
“We are very interested in the regional situation and efforts of the government of South Africa’s ANC, SADC and AU to support Zimbabwe in these challenging times and obviously we were interested in talking to all those players in that effort,” he said.
The two sides had an open and positive engagement where a variety of bilateral issues were discussed.
“We discussed bilateral cooperation in all sectors of the economy & agreed to improve relations between the two countries and it was a frank discussion focused on uniting the two countries. The US government and private sector cooperation in agriculture through USAID’s recently announced 19.8 million technical training and assistance programme and John Deere’s equipment is expected to improve the sector,” he said.
The Ambassador also briefed Minister Moyo on his government’s efforts to assist Zimbabwe in the fight against COVID-19, which has seen the country availing 19.3 million United States dollars to support COVID-19 testing, training of frontline healthcare workers, as well as assisting vulnerable households in urban areas. -ZBC
