Two-thirds of African leaders refuse to attend Putin’s summit
Two-thirds of African leaders refuse to attend Putin’s summit
The majority of African nations' leaders have chosen not to attend the upcoming Russia-Africa summit, with 38 out of 55 countries opting not to send their heads of state, The Moscow Times reported on July 25.
The summit, intended to showcase Russia's diplomatic push to increase influence on the continent, is taking place amidst a significant boycott: only 17 out of 55 African countries will be represented by their leaders at the event scheduled for July 27-28.
You're viewing a single thread.
Great to hear, but still 17 too many.
A lot of those 17 are dictatorships, where the elites are unsurprisingly big fans of Russia / Wagner helping them prop up their regimes. Actual normal people in those countries tend to be significantly more anti-Russia.
Agreed. Given the fallout of Russia exiting the grain deal, which disproportionately affects Africa, I expected less than 17. However, maybe the hope for securing a grain deal is part of the allure for some of the heads of state attending.
Now that Russia blocked and bombed their grain shipments, they don't really have a choice I think.
Most of the other countries are sending lesser dignitaries, just not their heads of state.