Côte d'Ivoire–Soviet relations were the bilateral relations between Côte d'Ivoire and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Overall, the Ivorian-Soviet relations were sporadic and frosty as the Ivorian president

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...

mistrusted the Soviet Union and had a negative view of the Soviet role in Africa.

1967–1969

The Soviet Union had declared its recognition of the independence of Côte d'Ivoire and offered the new state diplomatic relations in a telegram issued on August 6, 1960 (one day before independence of Côte d'Ivoire was declared). The Soviet Union had begun to import

cocoa beans The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

from Côte d'Ivoire in 1959, but this trade was discontinued in 1961. However, in the early phase of Ivorian independence Soviet analysts classified the Ivorian government as ' reactionary'. By the mid-1960s, there was a shift in Soviet attitudes towards Côte d'Ivoire. The new Soviet ambition to seek development of contacts with Côte d'Ivoire could be seen as part of a wider strategy, directed towards enhancing contacts to regionally important moderate states in the Third World (another example in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

was

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

). Another factor that hampered the development of Ivorian-Soviet links was the fact that Soviet Union had close links with Guinea, ruled by Houphouët-Boigny's adversary Ahmed Sékou Touré. Guinea was accused of fomenting opposition inside Côte d'Ivoire, and there were suspicions that the Soviet Union had given its support to these activities. The Soviet-Guinean cooperation was however broken off. A mutual agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Côte d'Ivoire and the Soviet Union was announced on January 23, 1967. In November the same year the first Soviet ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, Sergey Petrov, was appointed. On May 30, 1969, Côte d'Ivoire declared that it severed the relations with the Soviet Union, as allegations were directed that Petrov had given direct support to a 1968 protest at the National University of Côte d'Ivoire.Ginsburgs, George, and Robert M. Slusser.
A Calendar of Soviet Treaties, 1958–1973
Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1981. p. 836

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.
Soviet Ties With Ivory Coast
'

1986–1990

The two states did not restore ties until February 1986. The reassumption of bilateral relations could be attributed to two factors. On one hand Houphouët-Boigny had begun to embrace a more active foreign policy, including a more pragmatic attitude towards the Soviet Union. Furthermore, at the time Houphouët-Boigny was active in seeking increased international recognition.

' The Soviet Union sent

Boris Minakov Boris Ivanovich Minakov (russian: Борис Иванович Минаков; 15 July 1928 – 11 October 2021) was a Soviet diplomat. He served in various diplomatic roles from 1950 onwards, and was List of ambassadors of Russia to Ivory Coast, ...

as its ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire. He served as ambassador until 1990.

1967–1969

1986–1990

References

See also