For most African countries, Russia is one player among many. A few, however, are reliant on Russian money and mercenaries
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe summit stressed Russia’s increasingly muscular approach to Africa. After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and the West imposed sanctions, it boosted efforts to sell arms, extract resources and prop up shaky regimes. Now that Russia is suffering far more sweeping sanctions, it may wish to redouble its activities on the continent.
But Africa’s relations with Russia are mainly about self-interest, not history or ideology. This is acutely so for countries that rely on mercenaries from the Wagner Group, which is backed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a chum of Mr Putin. There are an estimated 2,000 Wagner troops in the Central African Republic keeping rebels from toppling President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, reportedly in exchange for gold and diamonds. He is too dependent on them to change tack.
On February 24th, as Russian tanks were rolling into Ukraine, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a powerful Sudanese general known as Hemedti, was hobnobbing with Russian officials. Russia has long sought a military presence at Port Sudan on the Red Sea and reportedly buys smuggled gold from the country. But in the coming months Sudanese angry at high bread prices may renew protests against their Russian-backed junta.
Österreich Neuesten Nachrichten, Österreich Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
G7 nations strip Russia of ‘most favoured nation’ statusGroup of wealthy nations plan to revoke benefits and impose heavy tariffs to further isolate Moscow over Ukraine war
Weiterlesen »
G7 nations strip Russia of ‘most favoured nation’ statusGroup of wealthy nations plan to revoke benefits and impose heavy tariffs to further isolate Moscow over Ukraine war
Weiterlesen »
Xi Jinping places a bet on RussiaIn Beijing, scholars and high-ranking government advisers predict that today’s shows of Western unity will fade sooner or later
Weiterlesen »
Russia 'does not understand trouble it is in' after Ukraine secures game-changing weaponVLADIMIR PUTIN has failed to grasp 'the trouble he is in' after Ukraine secured crucial game-changing weapons to take out and push back Russian forces.
Weiterlesen »