At a crucial conference on Thursday in St. Petersburg, African leaders ignored Vladimir Putin, further humiliating the Russian president. Less than half of the 43 heads of state who attended the first summit in 2019—17 heads of state—will attend the second Russia-Africa summit this week.
Senior government officials or ambassadors will represent the other 32 African countries. As Moscow looks for diplomatic friends in its confrontation with Ukraine, the Kremlin accuses Western countries of undermining the event with 'outrageous' intervention because of the low attendance.
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, responded to a question about the low turnout by saying: "This is blatant, brazen interference by the United States, France, and other states through their diplomatic missions in African countries and their attempts to put pressure on the leadership of these countries to prevent their active participation in the forum."
Russia has spent a significant amount of the last year on a charm offensive in the developing world, stating that the country's future rests in Asia and Africa, where anticipated development will bring exceptional economic prospects, after being isolated and sanctioned by a large portion of the Western world. The incident occurred after Russia demolished Ukrainian grain storage facilities on the Danube River after pulling out of the UN-mediated Black Sea grain agreement, which permitted the transfer of grain and other goods from Ukraine to foreign markets, many of which were in Africa. The agreement was designed to lower skyrocketing food costs worldwide, and Russia claimed that the West was responsible for its breakdown by preventing the sale of Russian grain and fertilizer.
In recent days, Moscow has made an effort to minimize the problem by telling its African allies that it shares their "concern" about it. Nevertheless, several African governments have reacted strongly to Russia's withdrawal from the agreement out of concern for potential domestic civil unrest brought on by increased grain prices.
