Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, on a diplomatic offensive trip to Egypt, has refuted claims that Moscow has been the cause of the global food crisis.
In a speech to Arab League ambassadors in Cairo, he reported that Western nations were distorting the truth about the impact of sanctions on global food security.
He accused the Western nations of trying to impose their dominance over others. Much of the Arab world and Africa are greatly affected by grain shortages caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A landmark deal signed on Friday to begin Ukraine’s grain exports hangs in the balance after Russia attacked targets in the port of Odesa on Saturday. Mr. Lavrov will go on to tour three African nations to rally support amid anger over the war.
Mr. Lavrov disclosed that Western nations’ “aggressiveness” in imposing sanctions on Russia indicated one simple conclusion: That it was not about Ukraine, but about the future of the world order.
“They say everybody must support a rules-based world order, and the rules are written depending on what specific situation the West wants to resolve in its favor. Earlier, Mr. Lavrov held talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
Egypt has important ties with Russia, which supplies wheat, weapons, and – until the invasion of Ukraine began – great numbers of tourists. After his talks with Mr. Shoukry, Mr. Lavrov told a joint news conference that the West was stretching the conflict even though it understood “what and whose end it will be”.
It is the first stage for Mr. Lavrov of a brief tour of Africa taking in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Congo-Brazzaville.
