Sergej Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister
Lavrov in Africa: the offensive charm of Moscow on the black continent
The Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Oyo, in northern Congo, where he began the second leg of his African tour which began in Cairo, Egypt. His plane landed at 10.30pm at Ollombo International Airport. Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Lavrov will have a meeting on Monday. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Congo-Brazzaville has been a “neutral” country in the conflict.
The first stop was held in Egypt for talks with the local leadership, on a tour that will take him between now and 28 July, also in Ethiopia and Uganda. Lavrov met with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and the foreign minister, Sameh Shukry, against the backdrop of Russia’s attempts to alleviate the concerns raised above all in Africa by the blockade of grain exports from the Black Sea, after the start of what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The knot of wheat and the agreement with Egypt
More than 40% of the wheat on the African market comes from Russia and Ukraine. Part of the Ukrainian grain is transported to Africa through Europe by rail, road and inland waterways, but with higher transport costs. African nations, many of which did not support Western sanctions against Russia, have been particularly affected by the rise in material costs resulting from the crisis, including rising oil and gas prices.. A few days after President Vladimir Putin’s mission to Iran, Lavrov’s visit to the region also aims to reiterate that Russia is not isolated on the international stage. On the eve of his departure, the head of Russian diplomacy had stressed the “good and long-standing relations with Africa”, since the days of the USSR, and the strengthening of the Russian position on the continent in recent years.
The first stop on the tour was Egypt, Russia’s largest trading and economic partner in Africa and one of the largest wheat importers in the world. At the end of 2021, trade between the two countries increased by 4% and amounted to 4.8 billion dollars. Al-Sisi refused to take sides in the Ukrainian crisis and has cultivated close personal ties with President Vladimir Putin. “The Russian wheat suppliers have confirmed their commitment to comply with the obligations on exports to Egypt”, guaranteed Lavrov meeting his counterpart in Cairo, two days after the initialing in Istanbul, with the mediation of the UN and Turkey, of a agreement with Kiev on the resumption of cereal exports from ports on the Black Sea.
Russia has always rejected Western accusations that it was responsible for the growing global food crisis, dismissing them as “attempts to blame others”. Lavrov has however guaranteed that Moscow “will respect” its obligations underwritten in Istanbul “regardless of the lifting of Western” sanctions, which, moreover, he added, “we are not imploringAt the same time, however, the Russian minister hoped that the United Nations would be able to remove the “illegitimate restrictions” which, he said, prevented the implementation of operations involving Russian wheat, including insurance, l entry of Russian ships into foreign ports and vice versa.
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