The US is trying to wreck Russia’s
planned summit with African countries as part of efforts to
isolate Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Lavrov, in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty published on Tuesday, said that Moscow was different from Western countries in its relations with Africa in that “we never tell our foreign partners how they are supposed to live. We have no secret agenda.”
Moscow is preparing for its second summit with African
countries, scheduled for the end of July in St Petersburg,
including work on infrastructure, technology and energy
projects.
“It is true that the United States and its vassals are doing
everything possible to achieve Russia’s international
isolation,” Lavrov told the website. “In particular, they are
trying to torpedo the planned second Russia-Africa summit … to
persuade our African friends not to take part.”
In any case, Lavrov said, the chances of damaging the
conference were diminishing as “fewer and fewer people are now
willing to pull out all the stops for former colonial powers.
“Attempts to interfere in our cooperation with countries for
the global South and East will therefore continue, but success
is far from guaranteed.”
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‘Our Africa policy is about Africa’
The US State Department, in a statement, did not address
Lavrov’s accusations directly, but said Washington was pursuing
strong relationships with African countries “to address the
shared challenges we face. Our Africa policy is about Africa.”
The statement quoted US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken as saying the United States “[doesn’t] want to limit
African partnerships with other countries. We want to give
African countries choices.”
Lavrov has been particularly eager to nurture ties with
Africa, visiting the continent twice this year as well as making
a tour in mid-2022.
South Africa this year held 10 days of military exercises
with the Russian and Chinese militaries.
And the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries, active in what
Moscow described as its “special military operation” in Ukraine,
has been deployed against insurgents in Mali and the Central
African Republic.
US President Joe Biden hosted a US-Africa leaders summit in 2022 in Washington, seeking to bolster alliances amid the growing Russian and Chinese presence on the continent.
READ MORE: US envoy: Africa trip isn’t to catch up with China and Russia
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