SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Russia on Saturday opened the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in the city of Sochi, seeking to deepen ties with African nations and dispel a notion that it’s isolated by Western sanctions.

The conference is billed as building on last summer’s Russia-Africa summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin courted leaders from Africa and offered to expand political and business ties.

The two-day ministerial conference, which is attended by government and business leaders from Russia and Africa, will continue in the same format regularly, said Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to Putin.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the conference “dashed dirty hopes” for Russia’s isolation.

Zakharova said that dozens of bilateral meetings were taking place between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and African representatives, hailing the “multipolarity” demonstrated by the event.

Lavrov is due to speak at the plenary session on Sunday.

The Associated Press