RUSSIA Sends “Love” To AFRICA As Top Diplomat Lavrov Charms UGANDA President

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (R) shaking hands during a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, 26 July 2022. Lavrov is on a working visit to Uganda.  (PHOTO:  EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY HANDOUT)

By  Atwine  Allen  –  DIPLOMATIC TIMES  CORRESPONDENT

KAMPALA,  UGANDA  –  Moscow  dispatched its top diplomat Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Uganda Monday on his third stop on an African tour to win over the Continent against Western pressure over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov is visiting Egypt, Uganda, DR Congo, and Ethiopia. The Russian foreign minister apparently charmed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who  said  he would not  criticise Moscow over its war with Ukraine after talks held Tuesday.  Moscow is attempting blame the West for the cause of growing poverty in Africa by linking it to sanctions against Russia. Africa is caught smack right in the middle of a new Cold War that is brewing amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the West  isolates  Moscow and is imposing crippling sanctions against it.  Uganda is one of the several countries in East Africa that suffering from food shortages following a severe drought . Rising inflation fueled by the war in Ukraine has further stressed food supplies in the region.

Uganda Museveni praised Russia as a partner in a century-long struggle against colonialism 

President Museveni made note of his participation in student demonstrations against the infamous crushing over the Prague Spring by the USSR in 1968 to show that Africa will critisize Moscow for errors in judgment. 

“If Russia makes mistakes then we tell them. But when they have not made a mistake we cannot be against them,”    President Museveni  made it crystal clear.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (R) during meeting in Entebbe, Uganda July 26, 2022. (Photo:  Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia) 

The West has blamed Russia’s war and its Black sea blockade of Ukrainian grain for skyrocketing global food prices that have sparked risks of famine in the Horn of Africa.  However, just ahead of the Russian Foreign Minister’s visit to Africa,  Moscow agreed to a deal with the United Nations to allow Ukraine to resume exporting badly needed grain blocked in the sea ports.   Africa is hurting economically as a result of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.  Russia’s invasion has hit African economies hard with the resulting surge in cereal and cooking oil prices and fuel shortages. Africa is facing a potential food crisis as the war continues.   Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened the food security crisis in many African countries, Human Rights Watch said in April. 

Uganda, as most of Africa,  has remained neutral in Russia-Ukraine conflict

In an emergency session on March 2, 2022, the United Nations (U.N.) voted on a resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,  28 out of the 54 African countries (just over 51 percent) represented in the U.N. voted in favor of the resolution, sharply contrasting  to the 81.29 percent of non-African countries that voted in favor of the resolution. Lavrov’s trip to Africa  obviously is aimed in part at seeking allies, as Moscow is under extreme Western pressure for its invasion. At the same time as Lavrov’s Africa tour, France’s President Macron arrived in the region for visits Cameroon, Benin and Guinea -Bissau.
In a column published in newspapers in the four countries Lavrov is visiting , the Russian foreign minister wrote:

” We appreciate the considered Africa  position as to the situation in and around  Ukraine’  and described the pressure being put on African nations to join Western sanctions as “unprecedented” 

“The only link with the Ukraine situation in food security lies in the unlawful and aggressive sanctions imposed by the West on the Russian Federation. Russia adheres to the principled position whereby African problems can only have African solutions.”

-Russian Foreign Minister   Lavrov 

The Russian foreign minister met Monday with the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso at his residence in Oyo, a town 400 kilometers north of the capital , Brazzaviile.  In Egypt, Lavrov met with the Arab League leadership, seeking the support of the group’s 22 members states and accusing the West of ignoring his country’s  security concerns.
MOSCOW  Seeks To Re-Gain Strategic Foothold in AFRICA it  had during  COLD WAR
Moscow has been significantly increasing   investment in African countries over the  years to regain a strategic foothold on the  continent where it once  enjoyed  much influence  in many nations during during the Cold War. The independence movements in Africa during the early 1960’s provided foreign policy opportunities  to the Soviet Union.  Moscow took advantage of the numerous  socialist revolutions flourishing across Africa  waging ideological warfare against  imperialism.  Liberation movements across southern Africa were backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba, which sent large contingents of troops to support independence fighters. 

What does Moscow want in Africa in return for its “love” and investment?     Diamonds, Strategic Metals, Diamonds, Gold, and other crucial commodities. This is what this is all about. Meanwhile, France and the United States all want the same thing from Africa! 

 

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