/AFRICA: Russia-Africa Summit To Kick Off On Thursday

The second summit of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum will take place on Jul 27-28, with President Vladimir Putin likely to try and use this opportunity to defend Moscow's stance on the ongoing war against Ukraine and the changing global geopolitical context in front of an international audience.

• Heading into the summit, Putin signed off on an article in which he pointed to the "strong, deep roots" of Russia-Africa partnership and invoked well-known historical arguments to demonstrate Russia's (questionable) anti-colonialist credentials.
• Putin blamed the disruptions in food supply to African countries on Western sanctions imposed on Russia and argued that the "grain deal" has been "been shamelessly used solely for the enrichment of large US and European businesses."
• The first Russia-Africa summit was held in 2019 as part of the Kremlin's ambitions to increase its influence in Africa, but the subsequent outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine has given the conference a somewhat different context.
• Russia continues its efforts to challenge claims of its international isolation. It recently suffered a notable setback, as Putin was forced to resign from attending an August BRICS summit in person due to his ICC arrest warrant.