Browsing: Russia – Africa Summit

• South Africa is desperately reaching out to Putin, persuading him to stay away from BRICS Summit in August.
• “It’s a big dilemma for us. Of course, we cannot arrest him”—South Africa Deputy President Paul Mashatile.
• US is accusing South Africa of providing Moscow with military hardware for the Ukraine war.

Authorities in Pretoria are stuck in a political quandary as South Africa weighs security risks emanating from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to attend BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month.

South Africa’s reluctance to arrest Putin is increasingly casting a shadow on the August summit in South Africa.

Media reports say South Africa is desperately reaching out to Putin persuading Putin to stay away. This as the country seeks to avoid triggering legal and diplomatic fallout over his international warrant of arrest, South Africa’s deputy president was quoted last week.

“It’s a big dilemma for us. Of course, we cannot …

President Vladimir Putin hosted the first-ever Russia-Africa summit Wednesday and Thursday in the latest display of Moscow’s efforts to restore its geopolitical foothold on the continent after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Amid a deluge of memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements, Russia clinched a series of trade agreements with some of the 55 African countries represented at the summit in Sochi.

Below is a list of military, energy and other deals made between Russia and African countries at the inaugural summit:

Military and politics:

— Russia signed a contract to supply 12 Mi-35 Hind E attack helicopters to Nigeria.

— Overall, Russia plans to send $4 billion worth of weapons to African countries in 2019, the state arms exporter said.

— Putin said Russia wrote off $20 billion of African countries’ debts that had accumulated during Soviet times.

— Putin has signalled readiness to help stabilize conflicts in …

More than 50 African leaders made their way to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Oct. 23-24 for the inaugural Russia-Africa summit.

The summit is widely seen as a reflection of Russia’s push for economic and military influence in Africa. More than 3,000 delegates from African countries and Russia are at the summit to discuss everything from nuclear energy to natural resources extraction.

All 55 African states sent a representative to the meeting, including 43 heads of state or government, according to Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov.

“We currently export to Africa $25 billion worth of food — which is more than we export in arms, at $15 billion. In the next four to five years I think we should be able to double this trade, at least,” Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi before the two leaders opened the first-ever Russia-Africa …