Foreign Ministry: US and EU “almost demand” that African countries stop cooperation with Russia

Representatives of the United States, the European Union and Canada are trying to put pressure on African countries to stop cooperating with Russia, declared Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Oleg Ozerov in a comment to RIA Novosti.

“First of all, they are literally besieging African leaders and African authorities, parliaments, delegations that come almost daily from Washington and from other Anglo-Saxon countries: from Canada, Great Britain, and also from the European Union. They almost demand to stop cooperation with Russia,” he said.

As an example, he cited the African tour of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during which the official discussed anti-Russian sanctions in all countries she visited, threatening consequences for their violation.

From February 7 to 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Mali, Mauritania and Sudan, and earlier from January 23 to 27 he visited South Africa, Eswatini (formerly the country was called Swaziland), Angola and Eritrea. During meetings with the foreign ministers of these countries, Lavrov discussed military, economic and food cooperation. Lavrov’s African tour was perceived as an important event in international life both in Russia and abroad, experts interviewed by Vedomosti noted, since these countries are of great importance for world powers because of their number and activity in the international arena.