Africa-Press – Botswana. The Russian Federation and African states Friday criticized “unilateral” sanctions and “blackmail” on third countries to apply them, in the final declaration of the Russia/Africa summit, which took place in St. Petersburg.
Participants at the meeting agreed to “oppose the use of illegitimate unilateral restrictive measures, including secondary (sanctions), as well as the practice of freezing sovereign reserves of gold and currency” of the affected countries, according to the document, published by the Kremlin.
They also reaffirmed their condemnation of “political blackmail on the leaders of third countries to force the application” of restrictive measures.
It was also agreed to continue the fight “against the practice of confrontation in international affairs, against the discredit of States for political reasons and against the introduction of political or economic restrictive measures with the pretext of (protection of) human rights”.
In this way, the Russian Federation and African countries present at the St. Petersburg summit pledged to oppose the intentions of others to use “unfounded accusations of human rights violations as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs” of sovereign countries.
During the summit, which lasted two days and brought together half a hundred representatives from as many countries, Putin said that the Russian Federation and Africa are opposed to unilateral sanctions that harm countries that follow an “independent course”, and that create problems at a global level.
Isolated on the international stage since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Moscow organized the second Russia/Africa summit this year bringing together delegations from 49 African countries, including 17 heads of state.
The joint declaration provides for enhanced cooperation in the areas of food supply, energy and development aid.
The text indicates that Moscow will help African countries to “obtain reparation for the economic and humanitarian damage caused by Western colonial policies”, including the “restitution of looted cultural goods”.
Putin said he still had to discuss the situation in Ukraine with “interested African countries” overnight.
Putin announced that the Russia/Africa summit will be held every three years and that a “partnership and dialogue mechanism” will be created for “security issues”, including the fight against terrorism, food security and climate change.
The Russian President also addressed the progressive transition to the use of national currencies, including the ruble, in commercial transactions between Russia and Africa.
On the first day of work, on Thursday, Vladimir Putin committed to free deliveries of cereals to six African countries over the next few months, in a context of concern after Moscow’s abandonment of the agreement on Ukrainian agricultural exports.
For several years, Russia has been strengthening its ties with Africa, namely through the use of mercenaries at the service of the Wagner paramilitary group, presenting itself as a bulwark against Western “imperialism” and “neocolonialism”.
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