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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg.
Putin hosts Africa summit
Vladimir Putin welcomed a number of African leaders to his hometown of St. Petersburg on Thursday for the second “Russia-Africa” summit.
In the shadow of the Ukraine war, it’s a more modest affair than the first one in 2019. Forty-three African heads of state made the trip then, but this time the Kremlin only expected 17 to show. While most African states have avoided picking sides in the Ukraine war – an inscrutable, faraway ethnic conflict from their perspective – very few have openly supported Moscow.
Russia is trying to style itself as a better friend to Africa than the old colonial powers of the “West,” but the summit opened against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s decision last week to pull out of the Ukraine grain deal – which had allowed some 33 million tons of Ukrainian grain to be exported to markets across the Global South.
The collapse of the deal immediately caused global wheat prices to rise at least 12% on major exchanges, raising concerns about food security, particularly in East Africa. To assuage those fears, Putin promised Thursday to send up to 50,000 tons of free grain to six especially friendly African countries: Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea.
Overall, Russia has sought to be a bigger player in Africa recently. Although its trade with the continent is more than 20 times smaller than China’s or the EU’s, the Kremlin is the leading arms exporter to Africa, and it provides security services to a number of local governments in exchange for Russian access to lucrative mineral resources.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong (not pictured) attend a media briefing in Cape Town.
African leaders make Ukraine peace trip
The leaders of half a dozen African countries traveled to Kyiv on Friday for a mission to advance ceasefire prospects in the war. They were welcomed by incoming Russian missiles and air raids. Leading the effort is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who, despite being officially non-aligned, has cultivated close ties with the Kremlin recently – holding joint military drills and allegedly allowing arms shipments to Moscow.
The others in the group — Egypt, Uganda, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, and Zambia — differ in their positions toward Russia, but they share one thing: Like most of the Global South, they see the war almost entirely through the lens of higher food and energy prices, and they want it to end pronto. The group heads to St. Petersburg later today for talks with Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
But don’t hold your breath for the doves to cry. African leaders have little leverage with Moscow or Ukraine, and a ceasefire is a nonstarter while Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive gathers steam.
But it’s a wise move for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in particular, to take the visit. Although his main foreign audience is the US and the EU – that’s where he gets his guns and money from – he’s been reaching out more to the Global South lately, particularly since China began positioning itself as a potential peacemaker.
Last month, Z dropped in on the Arab League summit, and a few days later he held a bilateral meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi at the G7. Engaging with African powers is smart politically, even if it won't turn the tide of the war – and we’ll be watching to see what case Zelensky makes to them.