Moscow and Washington are both planning separate summits with African leaders in the hope of winning influence in a region that largely remains neutral
In a sign of an intensifying battle for African influence at a time of global superpower tensions, Moscow and Washington are both seeking support for separate planned summits with African leaders in the coming months.
Mr. Lavrov’s five-day African visit, beginning on Sunday, will allow Russia to demonstrate that the West has been unable to isolate it diplomatically. It will also give Moscow another platform for its allegation that Western sanctions on Russia are the cause of the rising food prices and worsening hunger crisis around the world – an allegation that Canada and other Western countries have strongly rejected.
In the days after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the West lobbied strongly for African support. In a vote in early March at the UN General Assembly, 28 of the 54 African countries voted to condemn the Russian invasion, with only one African country openly opposing the resolution. But another 25 countries abstained or declined to vote, showing that Russia still retained considerable clout on the continent.
Then, last month, Mr. Ramaphosa joined Mr. Putin for another meeting, this time a virtual summit of the BRICS group of countries . Mr. Sall spoke to Mr. Putin in early March, more than a month before finally talking to Mr. Zelensky. Then he travelled to the Russian resort city of Sochi in early June for a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Putin, giving the Russian leader another chance to bid for African support.
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