The russia-Africa Summit, which is supposed to demonstrate russia's new diplomatic ties and, according to the kremlin, is "more important than ever," will be held under a boycott by most African heads of state.
Source. This was reported by moscowtimes.eu.
38 of 54 African countries did not send their leaders to the summit, which will be held on 27-28 July with the participation of russian dictator putin.
Only 17 countries will be represented at the level of heads of state, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday. Ten other African states have sent prime ministers to the event in St. Petersburg. Almost half of the summit participants sent delegations at a lower level: 17 of them are headed by deputy prime ministers and ministers, and five are just ambassadors. Five African states refused to participate in the summit altogether.
"Invitations were sent to the heads of all African states," said Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large of the russian Foreign Ministry. According to him, moscow understands those who decided not to attend.
"We will not hold it against them because, firstly, they may have some other pre-planned events involving the participation of heads of state. And secondly, whoever could, did," the diplomat explained.
According to Ushakov, putin personally plans to meet with each of the African leaders. He has scheduled talks with the presidents of Egypt, Mozambique, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Libya, Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Congo.
Background. As a reminder, Egypt criticized russia for withdrawing from the grain deal, saying it would continue to buy grain from Ukraine.