Ukraine announced Thursday, May 25, 2023, that it wants to strengthen its ties with Africa by opening new embassies and organizing its first summit with the continent, where its Minister of Foreign Affairs is currently on tour.
“We recently adopted our first African strategy and intensified our political dialogue with many countries on the continent”, recalled the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba in a statement issued on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), ancestor of the African Union (AU), according to AFP.
“This year we will establish new embassies in different parts of the continent and plan to hold the first Ukraine-Africa summit,” added Mr Kouleba, inviting African leaders to “participate in this important event”.
Russia, sanctioned by the West after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is also looking for support, particularly in Africa, where it is trying to pose itself as an alternative to the former colonial powers, especially European ones.
A Russia-Africa summit, the second of its kind, is to be held from 26 to 29 July in St Petersburg.
“We want to take a new qualitative step in our partnership” with Africa, “based on three mutual principles”: “respect”, “interests” and “benefits”, continued Mr Kouleba. “This shows our real commitment to opening a new era in Ukrainian-African relations, where “we came to speak as equals and work as partners”.
The Ukrainian minister is on Thursday in Rwanda after Ethiopia and Morocco in recent days, as part of his second visit to Africa in less than a year. He must complete this African tour in other countries, which have not been specified by his services.
