Senior United States officials will next month travel to several African states in what appears to be a diplomatic onslaught to win the hearts and minds of African leaders and rival Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent whirlwind tour of the continent, APA learnt on Friday.
Leading the US officials is Secretary of State Antony Blinken who travels in August to the DR Congo, which was visited by Lavrov this month, and South Africa, a fellow member of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) which is a strong backer of Moscow.
Blinken’s visit to the region follows Lavrov’s four-nation trip to the continent that ended in Ethiopia earlier this week.
US Mission to the UN confirmed that Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield – who is a member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet – is also heading to Ghana and Uganda next week to bolster Blinken’s visit.
Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni was quoted as telling Lavrov that Kampala did not fight other peoples’ enemies.
But rather it would seek its own enemies to fight, a view the US diplomacy took as a swipe at the Washington’s support of Ukraine over the Russian invasion of its territory.
Thomas-Greenfield’s visit is expected to focus on the US and global response to the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on global food security as well as other regional and bilateral issues.
The two US officials’ visit to Africa follows that of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power stop in Somalia and Kenya last week.
NM/as/APA