President Vladimir Putin told African leaders he’s committed to expanding Russia’s role on the continent as he hit out at rival powers for what he said were attempts to impose their rules.
(Bloomberg) — President Vladimir Putin told African leaders he’s committed to expanding Russia’s role on the continent as he hit out at rival powers for what he said were attempts to impose their rules.
“Russia’s focus on Africa is steadily increasing, which is demonstrated by our plans to expand our diplomatic presence in the continent,” Putin said Friday on the second day of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. “The main thing that unites Russia and Africa is their efforts to fight for true sovereignty — the era of hegemony of one or of a group of states is fading into the past.”
Putin is hosting 17 heads of state along with lower-level officials from other African countries as the Kremlin seeks to counter efforts by the US and its allies to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Still, the turnout is far lower than the first summit in 2019 when 43 heads of state attended. The Kremlin has blamed the low attendance on “unprecedented pressure” from the US and its allies.
The discussions have been dominated by the impact of Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal that has fueled concerns in Africa over rising global food prices.
Amid criticism from some African leaders over Russia’s exit from the accord on the summit’s first day, Putin again sought to reassure states that Moscow understood “the importance of an uninterrupted food supply” for political stability on the continent.
Putin Defends Grain-Deal Exit to Africa Leaders Hit by the Cost
The Kremlin leader said Russia was interested in closer cooperation with law enforcement and security services of African states and would continue training armed forces personnel from countries in the region. Russia has military agreements with more than 40 African countries, supplying them with weapons and equipment, he said.
“The situation in many regions of Africa is still unstable,” Putin said. “This, of course, is a heavy legacy of the colonial era, the ‘divide and conquer’ approach that Western metropolises pursued in Africa.”
The interim leader of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, who took power in a military coup last September and expelled troops from France, lashed out at what he said were efforts to subjugate his country through “cruel forms of colonialism and imperialism.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner mercenaries are engaged in numerous African states, was pictured in St. Petersburg meeting a senior Central African Republic official in a photograph posted Thursday on a Telegram channel linked to his group.
The Wagner founder’s presence in the city added to controversy over the armed mutiny he led in June that posed the greatest threat to Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule. While Putin has said the revolt brought the country to the brink of “civil war,” he met with Prigozhin days later and the Wagner leader appears free to travel in and out of Russia without hindrance.
Prigozhin welcomed this week’s military coup in Niger as “a declaration of independence” in an audio statement posted on the Telegram channel linked to Wagner. “It’s getting rid of the colonizers,” he said.
Russia is vying for influence in Africa with the US, the European Union and China. The limits of the Moscow’s reach is indicated by its Africa trade reaching only $18 billion in 2022, dwarfed by China’s $282 billion in commercial exchanges that year with African nations.
Wagner has given the Kremlin a low-cost instrument to wield influence in Africa including in Mali, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya. Despite the mutiny, the group will be permitted to keep some of its extensive operations in the continent, according to people familiar with the matter.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday strongly condemned the military takeover in Niger and said it poses a threat to the entire region, calling for the release of President Mohamed Bazoum.
France and the US maintain bases in Niger, which is a key center for international efforts to fight jihadists in the Sahel region.
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