{"id":22424,"date":"2022-08-08T08:23:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T08:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence"},"modified":"2022-08-08T08:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T08:37:22","slug":"blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence","title":{"rendered":"Blinken kicks off Africa tour to counter Russian influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in South Africa on Sunday, kicking off a three-nation African visit as Washington scales up diplomacy to counter Russian influence on the continent.<\/p>\n

His visit comes after an extensive tour of Africa by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov late last month.<\/p>\n

South Africa, a leader in the developing world, has remained neutral in the Ukraine war, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow, which had opposed apartheid before the end of white minority rule in 1994.<\/p>\n

Blinken<\/b><\/p>\n

will hold talks on Monday with South African counterpart Naledi Pandor and also make a policy announcement on the US government\u2019s new Africa strategy, Pretoria said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The two will \u201cdiscuss ongoing and recent developments relating to the global geopolitical situation,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The US State Department last month said African countries were \u201cgeostrategic players and critical partners on the most pressing issues of our day, from promoting an open and stable international system, to tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics\u201d.<\/p>\n

The African powerhouse, which wields great diplomatic influence beyond the continent, belongs to a group of emerging economies called BRICS.<\/p>\n

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged BRICS countries \u2013Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa \u2014 to cooperate in the face of \u201cselfish actions\u201d from the West.<\/p>\n

For Fonteh Akum, head of the Pretoria-based think-tank Institute for Security Studies, Blinken\u2019s visit will help the US understand the southern African country\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

It will also aim \u201cto bring South Africa further into the Western fold\u201d, Akum told AFP.<\/p>\n

The US wants to \u201cengage differently and\u2026 move towards understanding Africa\u2019s agency in international relations and therefore the growth in diplomatic engagements,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n

Blinken<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018s trip follows a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Benin, Cameron and Guinea-Bissau late last month.<\/p>\n

Lavrov\u2019s Africa trip took him to Congo-Brazzaville, Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda.<\/p>\n

That Blinken is coming after Lavrov and Macron, \u201cbasically shows that Africa is entering a phase within which there is another bout of great power competition over the continent,\u201d said Akum.<\/p>\n

It is Blinken\u2019s second trip to Africa since his appointment early last year.<\/p>\n

He will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo later this week, with the aim of boosting support for sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s biggest country as it battles to turn the page on decades of conflict.<\/p>\n

Blinken<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018s tour will then wind up in Rwanda, which has seen a flare-up in tensions with DR Congo after it accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels, a charge Kigali denies.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in South Africa on Sunday, kicking off a three-nation African visit as Washington scales up diplomacy to counter Russian influence on the continent. His visit comes after an extensive tour of Africa by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov late last month. South Africa, a leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[272,234,265,3525,3519,738,233,3524],"class_list":["post-22424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-sudan","tag-blinken","tag-russia","tag-seychelles","tag-south-sudan","tag-soweto"],"yoast_head":"\nBlinken kicks off Africa tour to counter Russian influence - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in South Africa on Sunday, kicking off a three-nation African visit as Washi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blinken kicks off Africa tour to counter Russian influence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in South Africa on Sunday, kicking off a three-nation African visit as Washi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-08T08:23:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-08T08:37:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_12-62f0cb2aaa8c6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Blinken kicks off Africa tour to counter Russian influence\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-08T08:23:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-08T08:37:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_12-62f0cb2aaa8c6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Sudan\",\"Blinken\",\"Russia\",\"Seychelles\",\"South-Sudan\",\"Soweto\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/blinken-kicks-off-africa-tour-to-counter-russian-influence\",\"name\":\"Blinken kicks off Africa tour to counter Russian influence - 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