Russia Courts African Nations and Aims to Deflect Blame for Food Crisis

Mr. Lavrov’s trip—with stops in Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia—coincided with a visit by French President

Emmanuel Macron

to three west African states, highlighting the intensifying battle for influence over a continent that has so far largely sought to stay on the sidelines of the global confrontation over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During her own visit to Kenya over the weekend, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator

Samantha Power

said the war and the resulting blockade of Ukrainian grain exports had exacerbated the effects of east Africa’s worst drought in at least four decades, pushing up food prices and forcing millions of people to the brink of starvation.

Standing next to his Congolese counterpart,

Jean-Claude Gakosso,

in Brazzaville on Monday, Mr. Lavrov said rising costs faced by African governments and citizens were the result of “nearsighted policies of some Western states” and sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and Europe.

“Our Congolese colleagues understand the reasons for the food crisis,” he said, thanking Mr. Gakosso, who he said was one of more than 8,000 Congolese trained in Russia, for his government’s “balanced and thoughtful stance on the situation around Ukraine.” The Republic of Congo was one of 24 countries that voted against an April motion to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Mr. Gakosso praised his government’s longstanding relations with Russia. Congolese President

Denis Sassou Nguesso,

who has ruled the oil-producing central African nation for nearly four decades, has met Russian leaders dating back to Leonid Brezhnev, Mr. Gakosso said, calling Mr. Lavrov’s visit to Brazzaville “a big event.”