Putin’s Pitch to Africa Is Weakened by His War
Flags promoting the Russia-Africa summit are pictured outside St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg on July 25.
Photographer: Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images
Vladimir Putin is surrounding himself with African leaders today as Russia seeks to show he has plenty of friends despite efforts by the US and its allies to isolate him over the war in Ukraine.
Yet the second Russia-Africa summit in the president’s home town of St. Petersburg isn’t the hit the Kremlin had planned. Just 17 heads of state are attending, compared to 43 when Putin hosted the first event in 2019, while other countries have sent lower-level officials.