President Vladimir Putin is hosting a summit with African leaders that’s intended to demonstrate Russia’s growing influence on the continent. Instead, it’s turning into a measure of the Kremlin’s diminishing power as his war in Ukraine drags on.
The two-day meeting starting Thursday in St. Petersburg takes place amid criticism in Africa of the impact on global food prices of Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal and attacks on Ukrainian port facilities. In contrast to the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019 when Putin met 43 African heads of state, the Kremlin said 17 are due to attend this time.
The summit takes place 10 days after Russia ended the Ukraine grain-export deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that had ensured safe passage of almost 33 million tons of crops via the Black Sea, helping to cool surging world food prices following Russia’s invasion. Russia had repeatedly threatened to quit the agreement, claiming commitments to facilitate exports of Russian grain and fertilizers weren’t being fulfilled. Despite its complaints, Russia is shipping record volumes of wheat and fertilizer exports are recovering to pre-war levels.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who’s due to meet with Putin on Saturday, has also previously highlighted the issue in talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. Ramaphosa, whose ruling African National Congress has close ties to Moscow dating back to Soviet support for the anti-Apartheid movement, called the summit a chance to “foster mutually beneficial cooperation” between Russia and Africa.
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