Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov might have expected a rough ride on his tour of Africa this week. Instead he’s being welcomed with open arms.
The trip by President Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy takes in countries that are among the most vulnerable to disruptions to food imports as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. But if there have been rebukes, they haven’t been made in public.
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In Egypt, one of the world’s largest grain importers, Lavrov was met with warm worlds from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who singled out state-owned Rosatom’s construction of Egypt’s first nuclear plant as a prime example of bilateral cooperation.
The Russian diplomat meets with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni today before heading on to Ethiopia — another large grain buyer — and a visit to the African Union headquarters.
Lavrov has made much of Russia’s longstanding economic and political ties to Africa, citing Moscow’s support for national liberation movements and casting western sanctions as the real cause of food insecurity.
It’s a message that resonates, and not just in Africa.
The reality is that despite US and European efforts to isolate the Kremlin for its aggression — including a blockade of Ukrainian ports and attacks on grain warehouses that have pinched the global food supply — Russia and its key ally, China, continue to have friends around the world.
The reasons are many and varied, from economic and educational ties to a sense of selective western intervention in global crises, fueling charges of hypocrisy.
Many governments in Asia, Latin America and Africa are hedging their bets and choosing to remain on good terms with both sides, shunning sanctions on Russia and sitting out the US-led rivalry with China.
The West might think it has right on its side. But that’s not necessarily how it looks to the Global South. — Alan Crawford