The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed.
I’ll disagree here. IIRC, 3/4 African leaders refused to attend Putin’s Russia-Africa summit, so it looks like only Putin’s supporters travelled to St.Petersburg.
And those who had allied themselves closely with Russia still took the occasion to mark a disagreement with the war.
Sure, it could have been clearer in opposition to Russia’s warfare, but that would also be extremely politically costly for them. The fact that they bring up the issue at all is great, even if they do so while trying not to lose their most powerful ally.
In the end, Putin wanted something and didn’t get it because of the war.
I’ll disagree here. IIRC, 3/4 African leaders refused to attend Putin’s Russia-Africa summit, so it looks like only Putin’s supporters travelled to St.Petersburg.
And those who had allied themselves closely with Russia still took the occasion to mark a disagreement with the war.
Sure, it could have been clearer in opposition to Russia’s warfare, but that would also be extremely politically costly for them. The fact that they bring up the issue at all is great, even if they do so while trying not to lose their most powerful ally.
In the end, Putin wanted something and didn’t get it because of the war.