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Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a day ahead of a Russia-Africa summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a day ahead of the Russia-Africa summit.
Putin has termed the summit as a major event that would help bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion people that was increasingly assertive on the global stage. It’s the second Russia-Africa summit since 2019. The number of heads of state attending the summit has shrunk from 43 to 17 because of what the Kremlin described as Western pressure to discourage African nations from attending it.
Some African leaders arrived in Russia on Wednesday for the summit with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin sought more allies amid the fighting in Ukraine. Ethiopia’s government has been under pressure from the U.S. and the World Food Program after they made the extraordinary decision to suspend food aid to the country earlier this year following the discovery of massive theft of aid. They seek reforms that involve the government giving up controls over aid distribution.
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Meanwhile, watchdogs say hunger is rising in areas like the Tigray region which is recovering from two years of conflict. Putin also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Africa’s 54 nations make up the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
