According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the United States is attempting to derail Russia’s scheduled summit with African nations in order to further isolate Moscow.
According to Lavrov, Russia’s relationship with Africa differs from that of Western nations in that “we never tell our foreign partners how they are supposed to live. We have no secret agenda.”
Russia is working on energy, technology, and infrastructure initiatives in preparation for its second summit with African nations, which is set to take place at the end of July in St. Petersburg.
According to Lavrov, “It is true that the United States and its vassals are doing everything possible to achieve Russia’s international isolation. They are specifically attempting to thwart the second Russia-Africa summit by dissuading our African allies from attending.”
In any case, Lavrov asserted, “fewer and fewer people are now willing to pull out all the stops for former colonial powers. Therefore, attempts to obstruct our collaboration with nations in the global south and east will persist, though success is far from certain.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was cited in the statement as saying that the US “(doesn’t) want to limit African partnerships with other countries. We want to give African countries choices.”
Russia has focused its efforts on nations in Asia and Africa after being shunned by the majority of Western nations since its assault of Ukraine just over a year ago.
Lavrov has been especially eager to strengthen relations with Africa, travelling there twice this year and again in the middle of 2022.
This year, South Africa conducted 10-day drills with the Chinese and Russian militaries.
Additionally, the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which was involved in what Moscow referred to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine, has been used to combat rebels in Mali and the Central African Republic.
In 2022, US President Joe Biden held a summit of African leaders in Washington, DC, in an effort to fortify alliances in the face of increasing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.
