Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told Arab League ambassadors in Cairo that Western countries were distorting the truth about sanctions’ impact on global food security. Western countries were accused by him of trying to impose their dominance on other countries. Grain shortages caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine are wreaking havoc across much of the Arab world and Africa. On Saturday, Russia attacked targets in the port of Odesa on Saturday, undermining a historic agreement signed on Friday to resume Ukraine’s grain exports. After that, Mr. Lavrov will travel to three African countries to drum up support amid the outpouring of rage over the conflict.
“It is not about Ukraine, it is about the future of the world order,” said Mr. Lavrov, referring to the West’s “aggressiveness” in imposing sanctions on Russia. Those who advocate a rule-based world order say that everyone must support it, and that the rules are written to suit the West’s interests. Lavrov had earlier met with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. Russia is a major supplier of wheat, weapons, and tourists to Egypt before the invasion of Ukraine began. According to Mr Lavrov, the West is prolonging the conflict even though it knows “what and whose end it will be” after his talks with Mr Shoukry.
Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are all on Mr. Lavrov’s short African tour itinerary. Ahead of his trip, Mr. Lavrov told a local newspaper that his country had “sincerely supported Africans in their struggle for freedom from the colonial yoke.” He went on to say that Russia valued the “balanced position” of Africans on the Ukrainian issue. The African Development Bank estimates that Ukraine and Russia supply more than 40% of Africa’s wheat. Historically, Egypt has been a major buyer of Ukrainian wheat. It imported more than any other country in the world in 2019. According to Mr. Lavrov, Russia is not “exporting famine” and blames Western propaganda for it. These “negative tendencies” in international food markets that stem from the coronavirus pandemic have been exacerbated by Western sanctions against Russia, according to him.
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