Zimbabwe is not wealthy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Zimbabwe
In January, 2013 Finance Minister Tendai Biti announced that Zimbabwe's national public account held just $217.[47] The election budget for the July 2013 presidential election was $104 million and government budget for 2013 was $3.09 billion at a projected economic growth of 5 per cent.[48]
In August 2014, Zimbabwe began selling treasury bills and bonds to pay public sector salaries that have been delayed as GDP growth weakens while the economy experiences deflation. US$2million was sold in July through private placements of Six-month Treasury bills at an interest rate of 9.5%. According to IMF data, GDP growth is forecasted at 3.1% by the end of 2014, a major decline from an average rate of 10% between 2009 and 2012, while government data show that consumer prices declined for five consecutive months by the end of June.[49]
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Poverty and unemployment are both endemic in Zimbabwe, driven by the shrinking economy and hyper-inflation. Poverty rates run near 80%,[50] while the unemployed is ranked as the world's largest, at 95%.[51]
As of January 2006, the official poverty line was ZWD 17,200 per month (US$202). However, as of July 2008 this had risen to ZWD 13 Trillion per month (US $41.00) . Most general labourers are paid under ZWD 200 Billion (US 60c) per month.[52] A nurse's salary in September was Z$12,542 (12 US cents), less than the cost of a soft drink.
...however, I don't know whether just laughing it off is a great idea. Russia and Zimbabwe are nation-states, and those have clout.
If you asked me to come up with a way in which Russia and Zimbabwe could reasonably partner...Right now, the EU's largest challenge is illegal immigration from Africa, right? Which it's just worked on shutting down by having border countries not let people in. What if Russia says "Okay, here's the deal. Zimbabwe, we think that you have a rich, vibrant culture, and we'd like to import some of that. So, here's the deal -- we're going to issue cultural exchange visas and even provide free transport to anyone who wants it in Zimbabwe to their choice of location on the Russia-EU border. Now, this is a temporary visa, and after a month, you need to be out...but your visa also acts as a free transit document to travel anywhere along the border region."
That puts pressure on an EU weak point -- if illegal immigration from Turkey is not easy to block without cooperation from Turkey, locking down the Russian border is going to be far, far worse. Zimbabwe benefits from remittances.