The Kremlin has accused the West, especially the US, of trying to sabotage the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg at the end of July, writes Reuters.
Moscow has announced that Western countries are putting pressure on African countries to refuse participation in the summit, which will take place on the 27th and the 28th of July. During that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold individual talks with the leaders of African countries, focusing on security and mutual trade issues, military cooperation, and grain supplies.
The first Russia-Africa summit took place in 2019. Russia is trying to increase its influence on the continent, where mercenaries of the Wagner group are still active, despite the failed June coup at home.
Delegations of 49 African countries have confirmed participation in the summit,
and about half of the countries will be represented by heads of state or government.
Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov made a statement on the 25th of July that the West is trying to do everything to disrupt the summit. He noted that African countries are facing unprecedented pressure from the US, and the representations of France and other Western countries are also putting their hands together to make the summit fail. He added that Western countries do not allow the idea that African countries should independently choose cooperation partners in various fields.
Peskov indicated that the summit in St. Petersburg will be important to discuss grain supply, which Peskov said marks Moscow’s responsible efforts to support the world market.
Moscow announced a week ago that it was withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to safely export grain from its ports. Now Russia has talked about providing cheap or free grain supplies to Africa’s poorest countries to replace grain from Ukraine.
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