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Johannesburg, South Africa – Secretary of State Anthony Brinken will dive into the battlefield of superpowers as he heads to Africa this weekend. But he’s no Marvel movie’s new Captain America.
In recent weeks, Washington and Russian envoys have met with African leaders and denounced each other over Ukraine and related food problems.
“People are starving. People are suffering,” UN Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield said while firing a salvo in the Kremlin. “At the moment there is a food insecurity crisis on the African continent because of Russia’s unilateral attack on Ukraine.”
Reacting to the Biden administration, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hit back when it swept Africa just last week, saying the food shortages in Africa were “due to an absolutely inadequate response from Western countries announcing sanctions. , undermining the availability of food in the world.” market. ”
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After a trip to Asia, Brinken will arrive on the continent this weekend and he will send the message that, as the State Department noted, “African countries are geopolitical players.” Mr. Blinken will appear the friendliest next week when he meets with the leaders of South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
“The timing and intentions of Blinken’s visit are clear and obvious,” Priyal Singh, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told Fox News. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a geopolitical race for influence among African nations.”
“While the Russian Foreign Minister’s visit more or less served to show that Russia can turn to its continental partners to deal with growing isolation among Western countries, Brinken’s visit thus marked a new geopolitical crisis. It further emphasizes the scientific importance and continental relevance,” he added.
But the secretary of state won’t expect all will be smooth sailing, Singh said. Officials and decision-makers within the ruling parties of many African countries maintain an established worldview on international affairs. ”
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That’s an understatement when it comes to Brinken’s first destination, South Africa. The country is a member of his BRICS, a trade and political fan club consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Politicians here still believe in giving back for the historic support the Kremlin gave to the fall of apartheid. South Africa is one of her 17 countries to abstain from voting in the UN General Assembly rather than condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“South Africa is not indifferent to what is happening in Ukraine,” Clayson Monniera, South Africa’s head of public diplomacy at the State Department’s equivalent, told Fox News. “We continue to emphasize that dialogue, mediation and diplomacy are the only way to end the current conflict.”
Emphasizing South Africa’s support for the Non-Aligned Movement, Monniera noted that Pretoria would not side with Ukraine, saying: “We cannot be caught up in the politics of confrontation and aggression that have been advocated by powerful nations. have resisted,” he added.
The Biden administration is trying to influence African countries to understand Washington’s way, but it is not working. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield met with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni this week, interpreting diplomatic speeches, and the US envoy successfully conveyed her point. According to Melissa Quartell, spokesperson for the US delegation to the United Nations.
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But the seat in the parliament building where she sat was still warm due to the visit of Russia’s Lavrov a few days earlier.
When Museveni was asked about Thomas-Greenfield, his answer was less friendly, saying, “No one can give us directions,” he told the BBC.
Analysts say another sign that the US is not getting its way in Africa comes after Thomas Greenfield warned against buying Russian oil and gas, which he fired shortly after he finished meeting with Museveni. is that In Russia with sanctions, they are breaking those sanctions. And she added, “Then…they could take action against them.”
Secretary of State Blinken has not hinted at such a threat. But even before his plane entered African airspace this weekend, the Atlantic Council, along with others, criticized the timing of the flight. , it’s almost too late,” Ambassador Rama Yade, senior director of the council’s Africa center, told Fox News.
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“South Africa, beyond the continent itself, is so strategic that everyone should have understood it before Lavrov’s visit. Moscow treats African countries as strategic partners.”
Mr. Yade concluded that support in Africa greatly favors Russia.