The media learned about US attempts to dissuade African leaders from attending the summit in Russia

The United States is trying to dissuade African leaders from attending the Russia-Africa summit, which will be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28. About it reported newspaper Financial Times (FT), citing African officials.

It is specified that the US authorities are putting pressure on African countries to condemn Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal. Such pressure, the FT notes, causes concern among African countries, as they intend to continue cooperation with the Russian Federation and the United States in the fields of economy and security.

On July 17, Russia left the grain agreement, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained this by the failure to fulfill the second part of the grain deal, which concerned assistance in the export of Russian products.

The Russian-African summit will be held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28. Initially, the event was planned from July 26 to July 29, Peskov explained the reduction in the dates of the event by “the nuance of the program.”

On July 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said that he plans to discuss with members of the council the development of relations with African countries on the eve of the summit.

In early July, it became known that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa would come to Russia and head the republic’s delegation at the summit. July 20, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov declaredthat Putin will meet with his South African counterpart on the sidelines of the summit. The last time Putin and Ramaphosa met was when the South African leader visited Russia in June as part of a delegation with four leaders of other African countries. Their visit to St. Petersburg then took place as part of a mediation mission to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.