[2][3] Relations between the two countries were initially minimal, however, Soviet interactions with the country intensified after Mathieu Kérékou came to power in a coup in October 1972, and who proclaimed in 1974 that Dahomey would follow a Marxist-Leninist course.

This saw the Soviet Union becoming Kérékou's major political ally in the international stage.

[5] The Soviet Navy made periodic port calls to Cotonou, where between 1953 and 1980 a total of 462 ship days were spent in the capital.

[6] In November 1986, Kérékou went on a state visit to the Soviet Union, and met with Mikhail Gorbachev.

[7] On 9 January 1992 Benin recognised the Russian Federation as the successor state to the Soviet Union, after the latter's dissolution.